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Women Planting Rice

Teisai Hokuba Japanese
early 19th century
Not on view
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.
This painting juxtaposes women depicted in colorful garments in the foreground planting rice with a landscape rendered primarily in sumi ink and light colors, with a small village nestled under pine trees, waiting for the dense rain clouds massing at the foot of Mt. Fuji to roll over it. Hokuba, an early pupil of Katsushika Hokusai, was well known for similar compositions. Such juxtapositions are typical of mitate-e, or parody paintings, in which historical and religious figures, peasants, or urban commoners of various vocations are replaced by women dressed in beautiful kimonos and long obi. The “farm wife” on the embankment is particularly opulently dressed in a patterned blue kimono with long dangling sleeves, her hair held in place with combs and a decorative hairpin.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Women Planting Rice
  • Artist: Teisai Hokuba (Japanese, 1771–1844)
  • Period: Edo period (1615–1868)
  • Date: early 19th century
  • Culture: Japan
  • Medium: Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk
  • Dimensions: Image: 44 3/4 × 20 3/4 in. (113.6 × 52.7 cm)
    Overall with mounting: 67 1/8 × 25 13/16 in. (170.5 × 65.5 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Lent by Feinberg Collection
  • Curatorial Department: Asian Art