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A bookcase of Edo-style kyoka, by Kitao Masanobu

Image attached to P.545-1943

An image of A bookcase of Edo-style kyôka (Azumaburi kyôka bunko). Masanobu, Kitao (Santô Kyôden, Japanese, 1761-1816). Colour printed book from woodblocks, ôhon format, 'bag' binding (fukuro-toji), pink covers, printed title slips. Block-cutter: Seki Jiemon. Author of preface and compiler: Yadoya no Meshimori. Publisher: Tsutaya Jûzaburô. Edo Period. 1786. The full title reads: 'Newly carved in Tenmei [1781-8], one poem each by fifty poets: A bookcase of Edo-style kyôka (Tenmei shinsen gojûnin isshu: Azumaburi kyôka bunko). The book set a fashion for portraying living poets of humorous 'crazy verse' (kyôka) in comic parody of the conventionalized portraits of poets of classic verse (waka) from the past. On the left page is the female kyôka poet Tamago no Kakujo, dressed in court robes and emerging from behind a folding screen that incorporates reed-blind panels, with her kitten − not yet tame − on a cord. This is a visual parody of an incident in The Tale of Genji involving Genji's wife, the Third Princess (Onna San no Miya), and her small Chinese cat, which ran out through the blinds onto the verandah, chased by a larger cat.

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A bookcase of Edo-style kyôka (Azumaburi kyôka bunko). Masanobu, Kitao (Santô Kyôden, Japanese, 1761-1816). Colour printed book from woodblocks, ôhon format, 'bag' binding (fukuro-toji), pink covers, printed title slips. Block-cutter: Seki Jiemon. Author of preface and compiler: Yadoya no Meshimori. Publisher: Tsutaya Jûzaburô. Edo Period. 1786. The full title reads: 'Newly carved in Tenmei [1781-8], one poem each by fifty poets: A bookcase of Edo-style kyôka (Tenmei shinsen gojûnin isshu: Azumaburi kyôka bunko). The book set a fashion for portraying living poets of humorous 'crazy verse' (kyôka) in comic parody of the conventionalized portraits of poets of classic verse (waka) from the past. On the left page is the female kyôka poet Tamago no Kakujo, dressed in court robes and emerging from behind a folding screen that incorporates reed-blind panels, with her kitten − not yet tame − on a cord. This is a visual parody of an incident in The Tale of Genji involving Genji's wife, the Third Princess (Onna San no Miya), and her small Chinese cat, which ran out through the blinds onto the verandah, chased by a larger cat.

Image data

  • Accession Number: P.545-1943
  • Photograph copyright © The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge
  • Aperture: f/16.0
  • Focal length: 80
  • Camera: Hasselblad H3DII-31
  • Photographer name: Michael Jones
  • Image height: 1024 pixels
  • Image width: 748 pixels
  • Processed with: Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5.6 (Macintosh)
  • Filesize: 245.22kB
  • Exposure time: 1/60
  • ISO Speed: 100
  • Fnumber: 16/1
  • Captured: 2013:08:16 14:30:30

Key words

18th Century 458392 Date Department Edo Period Fitz_PDP Japanese Kitao Masanobu Medium Nationalities Object Type Other Keywords Workflow _WF_AdOK _WF_KWD _WF_OPACtd _WF_PCtd animals bald book cats clothes clothing costume fashion female hair hairstyle kanzashi hairpin kimono kittens kyoka verse lady male obi ohon parody poem poetry poets print robes sash screen verses woman woodblock woodcut Artist/Maker

Colours in this image

rgb(174,94,77), rgb(237,225,200), rgb(66,57,49), rgb(143,134,114), rgb(176,124,88), rgb(197,141,118), rgb(200,189,157), rgb(198,181,128), rgb(194,187,173), rgb(108,124,84), rgb(108,108,116)

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The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "A bookcase of Edo-style kyoka, by Kitao Masanobu" Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/image/media-188729 Accessed: 2024-10-08 23:16:19

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{{cite web|url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/image/media-188729 |title=A bookcase of Edo-style kyoka, by Kitao Masanobu |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-10-08 23:16:19|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

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<div class="text-center">
    <figure class="figure">
        <img src="https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/pdp/pdp67/P_545_1943_CE_2.jpg"
        alt="Tenmei shinsen gojunin isshu: Azumaburi kyoka bunko"
        class="img-fluid" />
        <figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">A bookcase of Edo-style kyoka, by Kitao Masanobu</figcaption>
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