寿司と酒|Sushi and New Year’s Sake

Ryūryūkyo Shinsai 柳々居辰斎

ca. 1810 · Woodblock print (surimono); ink and color on paper; kokonotsugiriban · Asian Art

This elegant still-life surimono, a genre Shinsai excelled in, shows a setting for a New Year’s meal of sushi and sake. The kyōka (31-syllable witty poem) on the right refers to Nanatsu Ume, a premium brand of dry sake brewed in Itami in the Sesshu (Osaka) region. The poems in the middle and left refer to shrimp sushi (ebi no sushi) and sushi rice wrapped in bamboo leaves (sasamaki).

Artist

Ryūryūkyo Shinsai 柳々居辰斎

Date

ca. 1810

Medium

Woodblock print (surimono); ink and color on paper; kokonotsugiriban

Culture

Japan

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

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