…; purchased from the dealer C.P.J. van der Peet Japanese Prints, Amsterdam, by J.H.W. Goslings (1943-2011), Epse, near Deventer, 1987;¹¹Coll. cat. Goslings 1999, p. 27, cat. no. 46 by whom donated to the museum, 1991

Object number: RP-P-1991-644

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

Interestingly, Gurendo and Magao often appear together on surimono, see, e.g. RP-P-1958-275 (1821) and RP-P-1958-343 (1824). The latter, a design by Hokkei, shows The Monkey Bridge, Saruhashi, on the Koshukaido, which would almost lead one to believe that these two poets often travelled together, too.

For other surimono by Kazan, see:
Court lady listening to a nightingale in the garden (1828)²²Ward, Sidney C., One Hundred Surimono in the Collection of Sidney C. Ward. Privately published, 1976, p. 63 (as Watanabe Kazan).
Minister Hong bows to a boy on an ox (1829)³³Keyes, Roger S., Surimono: Privately Published Japanese Prints in the Spencer Museum of Art. Tokyo/New York: Kodansha International Ltd., 1984, p. 31 (as Yokoyama Kazan); Sotheby's London, 8/VI/2004, 467; BM 1906,1220,0.622.
A painting of Uzume or Otafuku on a fan floating on a stream⁴⁴Mirviss, Joan B. and John T. Carpenter, The Frank Lloyd Wright Collection of Surimono. New York: Weatherhill; Phoenix, Ariz.: Phoenix Art Museum, 1995, p. 202 (as Watanabe Kazan); NME, Leiden, 1353-813; MMA JP2636.

A large gold coin, oban, on a piece of brocade patterned with peonies.

The gold oban was the largest of the five coins introduced in 1601 by Tokugawa leyasu (1542-1616), three of which were gold (the other two being the koban and ichibu), and the other two were silver (chogin and mameita). It measured about 150 x 90 mm. Its value equalled ten ryo. They were normally hand-signed in ink by the Master of the Mint, as here.

Two poems by Gurendo Nakakubo [studied with Akera Kanko],⁵⁵Kano, Kaian (ed.), Kyoka jinmei jisho (Dictionary of Names of Kyoka Poets). Kyoto: Rinsen shoten, 1977 (1928), p. 156. and Kyokado [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].⁶⁶Kano, Kaian (ed.), Kyoka jinmei jisho (Dictionary of Names of Kyoka Poets). Kyoto: Rinsen shoten, 1977 (1928), p. 214.

Magao's poem relates to his First Lucky Dream of the New Year, in which he sees ponies ready to depart for Michinoku in the north, where he intends to spend some time in the mountains - possibly also alluding to the zodiacal sign of the Horse. It was considered auspicious to dream of Mount Fuji, a falcon and eggplants on New Year's Eve, the so-called First Lucky Dream, hatsuyume.

Issued by the poets
Signature reading: Kazan

M. Forrer, Surimono in the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, Leiden 2013, no. 472

M. Forrer, 2013, 'Kazan Watanabe, A Gold Coin, Japan, 1822', in Surimono from the Goslings Collection in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: https://data.rijksmuseum.nl/200415958