Suzuki Harunobu (1725-1770), Japan, 18th century

Adolphe Stoclet (1871-1949)

Sotheby's London, Important Japanese Prints, Illustrated Books & Paintings from the Adolphe Stoclet Collection, 8 June 2004, Lot 87;

Where acquired by Aso O. Tavitian.

One of a series of scenes from the Six Jewel Rivers (Mutamagawa). The subject of the Six Jewel Rivers, developed from the classical theme of beautiful rivers employed to represent famous scenic places in waka poems, was eventually standardized, probably in the Edo period (1615-1868), to form a group of six Jewel Rivers.

This print illustrates a young woman in a white robe stands on a veranda (engawa); she uses a hairpin to clean her ear, while a large grasshopper rests on a large leaf in the foliage beside her. The poem by Minamoto Toshiyori (ca. 1055-1129) in the title cartouche has been translated as:

Even the whispering of the wind

among the pines

sounds lonely in autumn

as cloth is hammered

in the village of Tamagawa

Matsukaze no

oto dani aki wa

sabishiki ni

koromo utsunari

Tamagawa no sato