Women by a Boat

Katsushika Hôtei Hokuga (mentioned on object), c. 1800 - c. 1805

Een vrouw gooit verrast haar handen in de lucht, terwijl de boot waar ze op staat van de kant wordt geduwd. In de boot kijkt een man toe vanonder een afdakje. Het titelcartouche heeft de vorm van een liggend hert; een verwijzing naar de geluksgod Jurô. Dit is een surimono zonder gedichten.

  • Artwork typeprint, surimono
  • Object numberRP-P-1999-234
  • Dimensionsheight 140 mm x width 185 mm
  • Physical characteristicsnishikie, with metallic pigments and blindprinting

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Katsushika Hôtei Hokuga (mentioned on object), c. 1800 - c. 1805

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Katsushika Hôtei Hokuga (mentioned on object), 1810

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Katsushika Hôtei Hokuga (mentioned on object), c. 1800 - c. 1805

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Katsushika Hôtei Hokuga

Women by a Boat

Japan, c. 1800 - c. 1805

Provenance

…; purchased from the dealer C.P.J. van der Peet Japanese Prints, Amsterdam, by J.H.W. Goslings (1943-2011), Epse, near Deventer, 1999;1Coll. cat. Goslings 2004, p. 10, cat. no. 322 by whom donated to the museum, 1999

Object number: RP-P-1999-234

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

Context

For general notes on the series, see RP-P-1999-235.

For more on the Seven Gods of Good Fortune or Luck, the Shichifukujin, a popular group of household deities, see RP-P-1962-331.

The artist

Biography

Katsushika Hotei Hokuga (d. 1856) was a follower of Katsushika Hokusai, who also used the names Hotei, Mantei and Manjiro. There is an unconfirmed - or at least insufficiently developed - theory that he is identical to Hotei Gosei.

Entry

A woman launches a boat off a riverbank; another woman, somewhat surprised, raises her hands. A manservant behind her beneath the roof of the boat. In the background, a curving dike and people looking out over the water.

Although the boat is roofed, such as those often used by courtesans, these seem to be townswomen on an outing.

No poems.

The God of Luck Jurojin, Juro, from A Series of Seven Gods of Good Fortune, Shichifukujin no uchi.

The print-title is inscribed within a cartouche shaped as a reclining stag, an animal commonly associated with Jurojin, one of the popular Seven Gods of Fortune associated with wisdom. Although the print appears to be in a format common for early 19th-century surimono - moreover, being actually larger than that of RP-P-1999-233 from the same series - there are no poems, as one would expect. This can be explained by the omission of the block with the poetry.

Issued by an unidentified poetry club
Signature reading: Hokuga ga

Literature

M. Forrer, Surimono in the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, Leiden 2013, no. 137

Citation

M. Forrer, 2013, 'Katsushika Hôtei Hokuga, Women by a Boat, Japan, c. 1800 - c. 1805', in Surimono from the Goslings Collection in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: https://data.rijksmuseum.nl/200413484

(accessed 29 November 2025 10:13:41).

Footnotes

  • 1Coll. cat. Goslings 2004, p. 10, cat. no. 322