A Wren and Chrysanthemums

ca. 1830

Not on view

Intriguingly, the artist borrowed both his depiction of the wren (misosazai) and the accompanying kyōka (thirty-one-syllable witty verse) from the poetry book Myriad Birds (Momo chidori, ca. 1790), illustrated by Kitagawa Utamaro and published about four decades before. The poem is about falling in love with a high-ranked courtesan and was composed by Karagoromo Kisshū (1743–1802), a samurai-poet who was one of the pioneers of the kyōka revival in the late eighteenth century.

大鵬の　高き心の　君ゆへに うきみそさゝゐ　よりもつかれず　

Taihō no
takaki kokoro no
kimi yue ni
uki misosazai
yori mo tsukarezu

Since your ambition
is as lofty as that of Taihō
the majestic bird of legend
as a wren, even if I fall in love,
I cannot hope to soar that high.
—Trans. John T. Carpenter

Artwork Details

Overview

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Provenance

Exhibition History

歌川広重画　菊に鷦鷯
Title: A Wren and Chrysanthemums
Artist: Utagawa Hiroshige (Japanese, Tokyo (Edo) 1797–1858 Tokyo (Edo))
Period: Edo period (1615–1868)
Date: ca. 1830
Culture: Japan
Medium: Woodblock print
Dimensions: 14 7/8 x 5 in. (37.8 x 12.7 cm)
Classification: Prints
Credit Line: Purchase, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, 1918
Object Number: JP259
Curatorial Department: Asian Art

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