Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) | Old View of the Eight-part Bridge at Yatsuhashi in Mikawa Province (Mikawa no Yatsuhashi no kozu) | Edo period, 19th century

拍品描述

woodblock print, from the series Remarkable Views of Bridges in Various Provinces (Shokoku meikyo kiran), signed Saki no Hokusai Iitsu hitsu (Brush of Iitsu, the former Hokusai), published by Nishimuraya Yohachi (Eijudo), circa 1834 Horizontal oban: 26.3 x 38.7 cm, 10⅜ by 15¼ in. The Eight-Plank Bridge (Yatsuhashi) of Mikawa Province (modern day Aichi Prefecture). The semi-historical structure that zigzagged over a marsh of water irises carried deep literary associations through its mention in the Tales of Ise (Ise monogatari). The courtier poet Ariwara no Narihira (825-880) and his retinue dismounted beside the marsh on their eastbound journey. Struck by the beauty of the irises in bloom, one of the party suggested that each compose a poem on the theme of travel, with the opening syllable of each line spelling out the Japanese word for iris: kakitsubata. Narihira composed the following verse: In these familiar lovely robes I’m Reminded of the beloved wife I have left behind, stretching far – Sadness, the hem of journeys.1 Karakoromo kitsutsu narenishi tsuma shi areba harubaru kinuru tabi o shi zo omou Here, travellers admire the myriad iris blooms beneath the plank-constructed bridge, while a tall pine coils around a stone stele marking the historic site. A similar impression of the same print is in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, accession number 21.10187, go to: https://collections.mfa.org/objects/237806 1. Translated in Peter MacMillan, The Tales of Ise (London, 2016), p. 13.

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