Woman Hanging a Scroll

Ryûryûkyo Shinsai (mentioned on object), c. 1800 - c. 1805

Een staande courtisane kijkt toe hoe haar bediende een schildering ophangt van Amanohashidate. Deze beroemde plaats ligt in het noorden van Japan en is begroeid met pijnbomen. Met één gedicht: De 'Brug naar de hemel' in de schildering van Amanohashidate overschrijdend, de eerste droom van het nieuwe jaar kent geen einde.

  • Artwork typeprint
  • Object numberRP-P-1991-661
  • Dimensionsheight 210 mm x width 139 mm
  • Physical characteristicsnishikie, with metallic pigments and blindprinting

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Ryûryûkyo Shinsai (mentioned on object), 1821

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Ryûryûkyo Shinsai (mentioned on object), c. 1820

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Ryûryûkyo Shinsai (mentioned on object), 1807

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Ryûryûkyo Shinsai (mentioned on object), 1809

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Identification

  • Title(s)

    Woman Hanging a Scroll

  • Series title(s)

    • Drie beroemde gezichten
    • Sankei no uchi (series title on object)

  • Object type

  • Object number

    RP-P-1991-661

  • Description

    Een staande courtisane kijkt toe hoe haar bediende een schildering ophangt van Amanohashidate. Deze beroemde plaats ligt in het noorden van Japan en is begroeid met pijnbomen. Met één gedicht: De 'Brug naar de hemel' in de schildering van Amanohashidate overschrijdend, de eerste droom van het nieuwe jaar kent geen einde.

  • Part of catalogue

  • Catalogue reference

    • Forrer 148
    • Goslings 83

Creation

  • Creation

    • poet: Ryûryûkyo Shinsai (mentioned on object), Japan
    • poet: Senjirô Miwake (mentioned on object), Japan

  • Dating

    c. 1800 - c. 1805

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Material and technique

  • Physical description

    nishikie, with metallic pigments and blindprinting

  • Dimensions

    height 210 mm x width 139 mm

This work is about

  • Subject

Acquisition and rights

  • Credit line

    Gift of J.H.W. Goslings, Epse

  • Acquisition

    gift 1991

  • Copyright

    Public domain

  • Provenance

    …; purchased from the dealer Kunsthandel Huys den Esch, Dodewaard, by J.H.W. Goslings (1943-2011), Epse, near Deventer, 1989;{Coll. cat. Goslings 1999, p. 41, cat. no. 83} by whom donated to the museum, 1991

Documentation

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Ryûryûkyo Shinsai

Woman Hanging a Scroll

Japan, Japan, c. 1800 - c. 1805

Provenance

…; purchased from the dealer Kunsthandel Huys den Esch, Dodewaard, by J.H.W. Goslings (1943-2011), Epse, near Deventer, 1989;1Coll. cat. Goslings 1999, p. 41, cat. no. 83 by whom donated to the museum, 1991

Object number: RP-P-1991-661

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

Context

For general notes on the series, see RP-P-1958-574.

The artist

Biography

Ryuryukyo Shinsai (n.d., but often given as 1764?-1820; the latter date is definitely incorrect as his last known designs were issued in 1825) is said to have first been follower of Tawaraya Sori, and later of Katsushika Hokusai, who gave him the art-name Shinsai in 1800. His personal name was Masayuki. He was one of the most prolific designers of surimono in the early 19th century and thoroughly explored the possibilities of issuing works in titled series.

Entry

A standing courtesan watches her assistant hang a scroll painting depicting Amanohashidate. In the foreground a kettle on a brazier.

A View of Amanohashidate, Hashidate, from the series Three Famous Views, Sankei no uchi.

Amanohashidate, on the northern coast of West Honshu, was one of the Three Famous Views of Japan, Nihon no sankei, consisting of a 3 kilometre-long stretch of sand overgrown with pines.

One poem by Senjiro Miwake [also Nichiwa Miwake and, later, Atoato Sanjin].2Kano, Kaian (ed.), Kyoka jinmei jisho (Dictionary of Names of Kyoka Poets). Kyoto: Rinsen shoten, 1977 (1928), p. 220.

The poem by Miwake reads:
Crossing the 'Bridge to Heaven' in the painting of Amanohashidate, the first dream of the New Year has no end

— Amanohashidate translates literally as the 'Bridge to Heaven'.

Issued by the Nogawa
Signature reading: Ryuryukyo ga

Literature

M. Forrer, Surimono in the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, Leiden 2013, no. 148

Citation

M. Forrer, 2013, 'Ryûryûkyo Shinsai, Woman Hanging a Scroll, Japan, c. 1800 - c. 1805', in Surimono from the Goslings Collection in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: https://data.rijksmuseum.nl/200467481

(accessed 1 February 2026 08:17:57).

Footnotes

  • 1Coll. cat. Goslings 1999, p. 41, cat. no. 83
  • 2Kano, Kaian (ed.), Kyoka jinmei jisho (Dictionary of Names of Kyoka Poets). Kyoto: Rinsen shoten, 1977 (1928), p. 220.