The print shows two sisters, Matsukaze and Murasame, who fell in love with the courtier Ariwara no Yukihira during his exile in Suma. The women are alone, but Matzukaze, on the left, wears the courtier's hat. This object and the calligraphy of his poem highlight the sisters' longing. Included in the tenth-century poetry collection "Kokin Wakashu," Yukihira's poem expresses his feeling of loss when he was in exile, away from the life of the capital: "If anyone asks about me/ say that I am leading a lonely life while making salt in Suma." The poems's references to Suma and salt echo the image: the women carry sea water in Suma, a province famous for its salt-making.
Accession Number
C00.1755.048
Format
prints
Culture
Japanese (culture or style)
Genre
Figures (representations)
Origin Information
Edo (Tokyo), Japan
Date
ca. 1769-1770
Physical Description
1 print ; sheet 10 7/8 x 8 in. (27.6 x 20.3 cm)
Note (Period)
Edo period
Note (Medium/support)
Polychrome woodblock print; ink and color on paper
Note (Inscriptions/signatures)
Lower right: Harunobu-ga.
Note (Ownership)
The Stebbins Memorial Collection
Note
Suzuki Harunobu was a prolific ukiyo-e artist who worked in the polychrome technique (nishiki-e) from as early as 1765. By the time of his death in 1770, he produced hundreds of prints, the majority of which depicted courtesans and beautiful women. Hi s works re-imagined classical subjects, often drawn from Japanese literature, in contemporaneous contexts.