Brief lezende vrouw

toegeschreven aan Utagawa Kunisada (I), ca. 1825 - ca. 1830

Een acteur in een vrouwenrol (onnagata) gekleed in een blauwe kimono. Met één anoniem gedicht. Met de 'zeven Komachi' uit de titel, worden zeven gebeurtenissen uit het leven van de beroemde vrouwelijk dichter Ono no Komachi bedoeld. Deze prent verwijst naar het moment, waarop Komachi dichtte over een periode van ernstige droogte.

  • Soort kunstwerkprent, surimono
  • ObjectnummerRP-P-1995-285
  • Afmetingenblad: hoogte 191 mm x breedte 124 mm
  • Fysieke kenmerkenkleurenhoutsnede; blinddruk; lijnblok in zwart met kleurblokken; metaalpigmenten

Ontdek verder

"female impersonation by actor" door Utagawa Kunisada (I)

Osan

Utagawa Kunisada (I) (vermeld op object), 1862-02

Osan

Vrouw zittend bij offertafeltje

Utagawa Kunisada (I) (vermeld op object), 1834

Vrouw zittend bij offertafeltje

Kakuju in Kawacho

Utagawa Kunisada (I) (vermeld op object), 1852

Kakuju in Kawacho

meer door Utagawa Kunisada (I)

Krab loopt langs water

Utagawa Kunisada (I) (vermeld op object), ca. 1822 - ca. 1827

Krab loopt langs water

Badhuis in Hakone

Utagawa Kunisada (I) (vermeld op object), ca. 1827

Badhuis in Hakone

Stormachtige dag aan de Sumida rivier

Utagawa Kunisada (I) (vermeld op object), 1844

Stormachtige dag aan de Sumida rivier

Stormachtige dag aan de Sumida rivier

Utagawa Kunisada (I) (vermeld op object), 1844

Stormachtige dag aan de Sumida rivier

Zonsopgang te Futamigaura

Utagawa Kunisada (I) (vermeld op object), ca. 1828 - 1832

Zonsopgang te Futamigaura

De pleisterplaats Shimada

Utagawa Kunisada (I), 1835 - 1845

De pleisterplaats Shimada

Utagawa Kunisada (I) (attributed to)

Woman Reading a Letter

Japan, c. 1825 - c. 1830

Provenance

…; purchased from the dealer Hasegawa, Japan, by J.H.W. Goslings (1943-2011), Epse, near Deventer, 1994;1Coll. cat. Goslings 1999, p. 35, cat. no. 64 by whom donated to the museum, 1995

Object number: RP-P-1995-285

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

Context

The Seven Komachi, Nana Komachi, are a common group of prints illustrating events from the life of the famous poetess Ono no Komachi, most of which can also be traced back to (partially lost) No plays. For a more extensive discussion, see David Waterhouse, Harunobu and his Age. London 1964, pp. 297-302.

The following designs from this series have been identified:

Shimizu (At the Kiyomizu Temple): Actor watering a miniature cherry tree - NME, Leiden, 564-1a-b;
Soshi arai (Washing the manuscript);
Kayoi (The wandering Komachi);
Sotoba (Among the tombs): An actor in a female role seated on a bench - NME, Leiden, 564-1a.

The Katsushika Mimasuren, apparently a subdivision of the Katsushika poetry club, is otherwise only known from an untitled pentaptych on the Soga drama designed by Gakutei in c. 1823 (see RP-P-1958-416).

The artist

Biography

Utagawa Kunisada (1786-1865) was a pupil of Utagawa Toyokuni, who dominated the field of kabuki prints until his death. Kunisada's prints of beautiful women, bijinga, were also very successful. Only well after he had established himself as a designer of actor prints did he enter the world of surimono design, becoming the most prolific designer of surimono in the Utagawa tradition. He also used the art-names Ichiyusai, Gototei and Kochoro.

Entry

A standing actor in a female role, onnagata, reading a letter.

Komachi Invoking Rain, Amagoi, from the series A Parody on the Seven Komachi, Mitate nana Komachi.

The association with the Amagoi subject is obscure. It concerns a poem written by Komachi during a severe drought. On completion, she threw the sheet of paper into a pond, inducing a three-day downpour.

One anonymous poem.

Issued by the Katsushika Mimasuren
Unsigned

Literature

M. Forrer, Surimono in the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, Leiden 2013, no. 208

Citation

M. Forrer, 2013, 'attributed to Utagawa (I) Kunisada, Woman Reading a Letter, Japan, c. 1825 - c. 1830', in Surimono from the Goslings Collection in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: https://data.rijksmuseum.nl/200382581

(accessed 8 December 2025 23:26:15).

Footnotes

  • 1Coll. cat. Goslings 1999, p. 35, cat. no. 64