Drawing Water from the Well

Kubota Shunman (mentioned on object), 1807

Een edelman kijkt toe terwijl zijn bediende het eerste water van het nieuwe jaar (wakamizu) uit de put schept, achter hen een bloeiende pruimenbloesem. Met twee gedichten.

  • Artwork typeprint, surimono
  • Object numberRP-P-1991-623
  • Dimensionsheight 135 mm x width 185 mm
  • Physical characteristicsnishikie, with metallic pigments, blindprinting and embossing

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Identification

  • Title(s)

    Drawing Water from the Well

  • Object type

  • Object number

    RP-P-1991-623

  • Description

    Een edelman kijkt toe terwijl zijn bediende het eerste water van het nieuwe jaar (wakamizu) uit de put schept, achter hen een bloeiende pruimenbloesem. Met twee gedichten.

  • Inscriptions / marks

    • collector's mark, verso, stamped
    • collector's mark

  • Part of catalogue

  • Catalogue reference

    • Forrer 74
    • Goslings 110

Creation

  • Creation

    • printmaker: Kubota Shunman (mentioned on object), Japan
    • poet: Yomo Magao (mentioned on object), Japan
    • poet: Saisôen Kawazudera (mentioned on object), Japan

  • Dating

    1807

  • Search further with

Material and technique

  • Physical description

    nishikie, with metallic pigments, blindprinting and embossing

  • Dimensions

    height 135 mm x width 185 mm

Explanatory note

  • Een surimono is een luxe uitgevoerde prent waarop beeld met één of meerdere gedichten gecombineerd is. Bij het drukken van een surimono werd vaak gebruik gemaakt van dikker papier, blinddruk en metaal pigmenten, zoals koper- en zilverpoeder. De prenten werden vaak in opdracht van dichters gemaakt en als exclusief geschenk aan vrienden en relaties gegeven.

This work is about

  • Subject

Acquisition and rights

  • Credit line

    Gift of J.H.W. Goslings, Epse

  • Acquisition

    gift 1991

  • Copyright

    Public domain

  • Provenance

    …; the dealer or collection Felix Tikotin (1893-1986) (collector's mark);…; collection Heinz M. Kaempfer (1904-86) (collector's mark);…; purchased from the dealer Robin Kennedy Fine Japanese Prints, Richmond, England, by J.H.W. Goslings (1943-2011), Epse, near Deventer, 1987;{Coll. cat. Goslings 1999, p. 51, cat. no. 110} by whom donated to the museum, 1991

Documentation

Persistent URL

Questions?

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Kubota Shunman

Drawing Water from the Well

Japan, Japan, Japan, 1807

Inscriptions

  • stamped on verso with mark of Heinz M. Kaempfer

Provenance

…; the dealer or collection Felix Tikotin (1893-1986) (collector's mark);…; collection Heinz M. Kaempfer (1904-86) (collector's mark);…; purchased from the dealer Robin Kennedy Fine Japanese Prints, Richmond, England, by J.H.W. Goslings (1943-2011), Epse, near Deventer, 1987;1Coll. cat. Goslings 1999, p. 51, cat. no. 110 by whom donated to the museum, 1991

Object number: RP-P-1991-623

Credit line: Gift of J.H.W. Goslings, Epse

The artist

Biography

The Way of Presenting an Over-Kimono: Accomplished as Described in the--(?), Kaminishimo no idashiyo, - Toshidoshi - shirushite wo nasu, from the series The Way of Training According to the Colours of Spring, Shunshoku shitsukekata.

Entry

A courtier and a workman in ceremonial attire drawing the first water, wakamizu, from the well in the New Year. Behind them a blossoming plum tree, next to the well a large stoneware cask for storing the water.

The dating, written top left, reads 'Year of the Hare', Hinoto u no toshi, i.e., 1807.

The print features ample embossing, especially on the clothing of the man drawing the water.

Two poems by Saisoen Kawazudera and Yomo [no Utagaki] Magao [1753-1829, Shikatsube Magao, pupil of Yomo Akara. Used the name 'Yomo' from 1796, when he became a judge of the Yomogawa. Alternative name Kyokado].2Kano, Kaian (ed.), Kyoka jinmei jisho (Dictionary of Names of Kyoka Poets). Kyoto: Rinsen shoten, 1977 (1928), p. 214.

Both poems playfully refer to the first water drawn in the New Year being used to make the First Lucky Tea, fukucha, of the New Year.

Issued by a follower of the poet Yomo Magao
Signature reading: Shosado, with seal: Sho

Literature

M. Forrer, Surimono in the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, Leiden 2013, no. 74

Citation

M. Forrer, 2013, 'Kubota Shunman, Drawing Water from the Well, Japan, 1807', in Surimono from the Goslings Collection in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: https://data.rijksmuseum.nl/200467458

(accessed 17 April 2026 23:36:53).

Footnotes

  • 1Coll. cat. Goslings 1999, p. 51, cat. no. 110
  • 2Kano, Kaian (ed.), Kyoka jinmei jisho (Dictionary of Names of Kyoka Poets). Kyoto: Rinsen shoten, 1977 (1928), p. 214.