Spring Rain Collection (Harusame shū), vol. 2: Costume for the Butterfly Dance (Kochō no mai)

1810s

Not on view

Surimono are privately published woodblock prints, usually commissioned by individual poets or poetry groups as a form of New Year’s greeting card. The poems, most commonly kyōka (witty thirty-one syllable verse), inscribed on the prints usually include felicitous imagery connected with spring, which in the lunar calendar begins on the first day of the first month. Themes of surimono are often erudite, frequently alluding to Japanese literary classics in both texts and images.

For the Butterfly Dance (Kochō no mai), performers don ornate crowns and colorful costumes resembling butterfly wings. Originally performed as a court dance (bugaku), the Butterfly Dance was eventually incorporated into the noh and kabuki repertoires.

Artwork Details

Overview

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Provenance

『春雨集』　摺物帖窪俊満画　胡蝶舞の衣装
Title: Spring Rain Collection (Harusame shū), vol. 2: Costume for the Butterfly Dance (Kochō no mai)
Artist: Kubo Shunman (Japanese, 1757–1820)
Period: Edo period (1615–1868)
Date: 1810s
Culture: Japan
Medium: Privately published woodblock prints (surimono) mounted in an album; ink and color on paper
Dimensions: 8 5/16 x 7 1/4 in. (21.1 x 18.4 cm)
Classification: Prints
Credit Line: H. O. Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, 1929
Object Number: JP2152
Curatorial Department: Asian Art

More Artwork

By Kubo Shunman

In the same medium

From the same time and place

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Two Actors; a Scene from the Soga Play, Kubo Shunman Japanese, Woodblock print (surimono); ink and color on paper, Japan — Two Actors; a Scene from the Soga Play
Kubo Shunman
19th century

Various moths and butterflies, Kubo Shunman Japanese, Woodblock print (surimono); ink and color on paper, Japan — Various moths and butterflies
Kubo Shunman
19th century

Pipe and Tobacco Pouch
From the Spring Rain Collection (Harusame shū), vol. 1, Kubo Shunman Japanese, Woodblock print (surimono); ink and color on paper, Japan — Pipe and Tobacco Pouch From the Spring Rain Collection (Harusame shū), vol. 1
Kubo Shunman
ca. 1810s

Court Woman at her Desk with Poem Cards, Kubo Shunman Japanese, Woodblock print (surimono); ink and color on paper, Japan — Court Woman at her Desk with Poem Cards
Kubo Shunman
1795 (Year of the Rabbit)

Courtesan with Client before a Tokonoma Alcove, Kubo Shunman Japanese, Woodblock print (surimono); ink and color on paper, Japan — Courtesan with Client before a Tokonoma Alcove
Kubo Shunman
1798

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