A Japanese woman sits with her legs stretched along the floor facing left with a stringed instrument in her lap.
Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College

The young woman wears a loose kimono with plaid and flying bird pattern, outlined in muted red and black that flows along the floor with her bare feet peeking out. Her hair is up and fastened with decorative hair ornaments. She looks down at calligraphy written on paper folding over her lap, it rests on top of a stringed instrument. The long neck of the instrument points to the right. There’s no defined background, only the paper surface, vertical calligraphy is written on the left side of the page, artist seal on lower right.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1933.4.2481
People
Yanagawa Shigenobu, Japanese (1787 - 1832)
Title
Woman with Shamisen Reading
Classification
Prints
Work Type
surimono, print
Date
early 1820s
Places
Creation Place: East Asia, Japan
Period
Edo period, 1615-1868
Culture
Japanese
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/207121

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Woodblock print (surimono); ink, color, and metallic pigment on paper
Dimensions
Paper: H. 21.1cm x W. 37.3 cm (8 5/16 x 14 11/16 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • Signed: (printed) Yanagawa Shigenobu

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of the Friends of Arthur B. Duel
Accession Year
1933
Object Number
1933.4.2481
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Publication History

  • Edythe Polster and Alfred H. Marks, Surimono: Prints by Elbow, Lovejoy Press (Washington D.C., 1980), p. 353

Exhibition History

Verification Level

This record was created from historic documentation and may not have been reviewed by a curator; it may be inaccurate or incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu