Yanagawa Shigenobu (II)

Woman with Several Helmets

Japan, Japan, Japan, Japan, c. 1825 - c. 1830

Provenance

…; purchased from the dealer Bernard Haase, London, by J.H.W. Goslings (1943-2011), Epse, near Deventer, 1985;1Coll. cat. Goslings 1999, p. 40, cat. no. 79 by whom donated to the museum, 1991

ObjectNumber: RP-P-1991-574

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

The artist

Biography

Yanagawa Shigenobu II (died after 1868), a pupil of Yanagawa Shigenobu, first used the name Shigeyama or, incorrectly often read as Juzan, and either took the name of his teacher after Shigenobu left for Osaka, or only after his death in 1833.

Entry

A seated woman holding a helmet, another two helmets on the floor in front of her.

Although the scene immediately recalls the first act of the Chushingura drama, where Lady Kaoyo is asked to identify the helmet of the recently defeated Nitta no Yoshisada (1301-38), no explicit reference is made to this incident in the poetry. The only possible link to 'The Flower with an Owner' in the title may be that Lady Kaoyo is able to identify the helmet by the incense used to perfume it. Whether this inspired the allusions in the poetry to the fragrance of plums or whether these should be seen as obvious associations in New Year's poetry is hard to say.

Three poems by Kakumu Yamamori, Makinoya Ototaka and Ryuhosha Kiyokaze.

Number Seven: The Flower with an Owner, Sono shichi - Nushi aru hana, from the series A Comparison of Flowers, Hana awase.

Issued by the Sugawararen
Signature reading: Yanagawa Shigenobu, with seal: Yanagawa

Literature

M. Forrer, Surimono in the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, Leiden 2013, no. 380

Citation

M. Forrer, 2013, ', Yanagawa (II) Shigenobu, Woman with Several Helmets, Japan, c. 1825 - c. 1830', in Surimono from the Goslings Collection in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.446726

(accessed 9 May 2025 10:41:43).

Footnotes

  • 1Coll. cat. Goslings 1999, p. 40, cat. no. 79