Edo prints
| Design: | Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) | |||||
| Title: | Kirifuri Waterfall at Mount Kurokami in Shimotsuke Province | |||||
| Series title: | Going the rounds of the waterfalls in all provinces | |||||
| Size: | 38.0 x 25.8 cm (ōban) | |||||
| Posthumous printing from newly cut woodblocks | ||||||
| Photography: | Jacques Commandeur |
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Originally published around 1832 by publisher Nishimuraya Yohachi, whose firm name was Eijūdō (永寿堂).
Artist’s signature in bottom right print area:
| Character | Reading | Meaning | Translation |
| 前 | zen | before | |
| 北 | hoku | north | |
| 斎 | sai | room | Drawn by |
| 為 | i | change | Iitsu, |
| 一 | itsu | one | formerly known |
| 筆 | hitsu | writing brush | as Hokusai |
Red round censorship seal reading kiwame (‘approved’) and square Eijūdō seal of the original publisher Nishimuraya Yohachi in lower right of the print.
Series and print title in white cartouche in top right of the print:
| Character | Reading | Meaning | Translation |
| 諸 | sho | all | |
| 国 | koku | provinces | |
| 瀧 | taki | waterfall | Going the round |
| 廻 | megu | go around | of the waterfalls |
| り | ri | in all provinces | |
| 下 | shimo | lower part | |
| 野 | tsuke | plain | |
| 黒 | kuro | black | |
| 髪 | kami | hair | |
| 山 | yama | mountain | |
| き | ki | ||
| り | ri | ||
| ふ | fu | ||
| り | ri | dropping mist | Kirifuri waterfall |
| の | no | ’s | at Mount Kurokami |
| 瀧 | taki | waterfall | in Shimotsuke Province |
One man high up on the right of the waterfall holds a hat bearing the character ei (永), which stands for Eijūdō, the name of the publisher’s firm. The character jū (寿), from this same name, appears on the hat against the bundle belonging to the man seated at the foot of the waterfall. Nishimuraya’s trademark is displayed on the blue bundle carried by one of the men standing at the foot of the waterfall.
References
- Dalon, Laure, Nagata, Seiji, Negishi, Mika, Takemura, Makoto, Okuda, Atsuko (2014). Hokusai. Paris, Grand Palais, Galeries Nationales, 1er octobre 2014 - 18 janvier 2015. Paris: Éditions de la Réunion des musées nationaux.
- Forrer, Matthi (1991). Hokusai, Prints and Drawings. Munich: Prestel Verlag and Royal Academy of Arts, London.
- Forrer, Matthi (1994). Japanese Prints (2 volumes in slipcase). Vol. 10-11, Genève: Collections Baur.
- Forrer, Matthi (2010). Hokusai. Munich: Prestel Verlag.
Provenance: The Adachi Institute of Woodcut Prints