浮世の花 - Sanders of Oxford

Notable paintings of the theme include works by Kanô Sansetsu (1589/90-1651), Nakayama
Kôyô (1717-80) and Yosa Buson (1716-84).
24. Utagawa Kunisada [Utagawa Toyokuni III] (1786-1864)
Scene from Hatsune [The First Warbler or The First Song], Chapter 23 of Genji
monogatari [The Tale of Genji]
Series: Genji gojûyon jô [Fifty-four Pictures of Genji]
Date [Western]: 1852
Date [Japanese]: Fifth Month of Kaei 5
Signature: Toyokuni-ga
Nanushi Censor Seal: Hama Yahei
Publisher’s Seal: Sanoki
School: Utagawa
Method: Nishiki-e woodblock print
Format: Chûban
Condition; Good, some wear and fading
Dimensions: 9 3/4 x 7 inches
Code: SOX
Price [Mounted]: £175
This very short chapter in the Genji monogatari centres around an exchange of New Year’s
greetings between Genji and the ladies of the Rokujô Mansion: Lady Murasaki [Murasaki no
Ue] the Akashi Lady [Akashi no Ue], the Lady of the Orange Blossoms [Hanachirusato], the
Safflower Lady [Suetsumuhana], and the Lady of the Locust Shell [Utsusemi]. In the
chapter, Genji receives felicitous New Year delicacies in ‘bearded baskets’ [higeko, baskets
with the ends of the woven strands left untrimmed] and, as depicted here, a warbler [uguisu]
on an artificial pine branch, sent by the Akashi Lady, with whom he has a daughter, the
future Akashi Empress [lower left]. Attached to the branch is a letter with a melancholy
poem telling of her loneliness. Hatsune motifs are a constant of Japanese iconography,
particularly within the decorative arts, because of their perceived auspicious symbolism.
25. Utagawa Kunisada [Utagawa Toyokuni III] (1786-1864)
Tori no koku [The ‘Hour’ of the Cock: 5 to 7 pm]
Cartouche: A Group of Edoites by Toyohara Kunichika (1835-1900)
Series: Shunyu jûniji [Twelve Hours of Spring Pleasure]
Date [Western]: 1856
Date [Japanese]: Third Month of Ansei 3
Signature: Toyokuni-ga
Censor Seal: aratame [‘examined’]
Zodiacal Date Seal: tatsu san/dragon 3
Publisher’s Seal: Yamaguchiya Tobei
School: Utagawa
Method: Nishiki-e woodblock
Format: Single sheet ôban tate-e
Condition: Excellent
Dimensions: 15 x 10 inches
Code: SOX
Price [Mounted]: £375
In Edo-period Japan, time was not measured in equal units, like the occidental hour. Instead,
a day was split into day and night time, in accordance with sunrise and sunset, and then
subsequently sub-divided into a further six segments, which, apart from at the two
equinoxes, were unequal. The twelve ‘hours’ thus produced corresponded to the zodiacal
animals used in calendrical numeration,
Kunisada’s 1856 series explores and contrasts a courtesan’s day with that of the generic Edo
chônin [townsmen], the latter being depicted in dinner-time scramble within a separate