歌川広重画　雪中芦に鴨|Mallard Ducks and Snow-covered Reeds

Utagawa Hiroshige

ca. 1843 · Woodblock print · Asian Art

Interestingly, Hiroshige used this same haikai (seventeen-syllable seasonal poem) on other prints of the same theme. This work has a seal that reads “Tōryō” (藤夌), though the poet’s identity is still unknown. In contrast to the conventional cursive script of the poem’s inscription, here the characters are rendered in kanji that must be read phonetically: 鴨鳴屋 風吹思和無 水廼遠毛 (鴨鳴や 風吹しはむ 水のをも) Kamo naku ya kaze fuki-shiwamu mizu no omo A duck quacks— as the wind wrinkles the face of the water. —Trans. John T. Carpenter

Artist

Utagawa Hiroshige

Date

ca. 1843

Medium

Woodblock print

Culture

Japan

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

H. O. Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, 1929