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The Safflower (Suetsumuhana) Chapter 6
Kunisada I (Toyokuni III), 1853, Wood cut
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The Safflower (Suetsumuhana) Chapter 6
The Safflower (Suetsumuhana) Chapter 6
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Location
Category
Library Item
Item no
16251
Title
The Safflower (Suetsumuhana) Chapter 6 from the series "A Modern Collection of Genji in Colour Prints" ("Ima Genji nishiki-e awase")
Description
The print depicts two women walking in the snow. One woman raises her arm to protect her face from snow that falls from a pine branch. To their side, a wooden lantern is also covered with snow. The women wear several layers of hemp and silk kimono and high wooden clogs or 'geta'. The outer kimono of the woman on the left is decorated with blue Genji-ko, the incense stick pattern that marks each of the 54 chapters in Murasaki Shikibu's 'The Tale of Genji'. Safflower was used to produce textile dyes and 'beni' red lipstick. In 'The Tale of Genji' the red colour of the flower is comically associated with the red nose of the daughter of the Hitachi Prince, or Suetsuhana as she is known. The direct translation of Suetsumuhana is 'Snow month flower' and this explains why the print depicts a winter scene.
This image derives from the serial novel or 'gokan', 'A Fake Murasaki and a Rustic Genji' (Nise Murasaki Inaka Genji) written by Ryutei Tanehiko and illustrated by Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III), that was published between 1829-1842. This story reworks elements from the 'Tale of Genji' and transposes the action from the Heian period (794-1185) to the time of the Muromachi era's Onin Wars (1467-1477).
Artist / maker
Kunisada I (Toyokuni III)
Date
1853
Size
27.9 x 19.8 cm
Type
Wood cut
Location
Art and Design Library
The following information appears on this print:
Signed: Toyokuni ga
Censors' seals: Magome and Hama (1849-53)
Date seal: Rat year, 5th month (1852)
Kyoka poem
Murasaki Shikibu 'Tale of Genji', 'Suetsumuhana', Chapter 6. Genji is initially attracted to Suetsumuhana's voice and her talent for playing the Japanese zither (koto). When Genji is able to inspect her more closely he is put off by the redness of her nose and her style of dress that makes her seen mature beyond her years. Genji takes pity on Suetsumuhana when he sees how she struggles to survive lacking a male relative to support her. The charitable and loyal affection Genji shows towards Suetsumuhana rescues her from abject poverty on more than one occasion.
Exhibitions with this item
'A Modern Collection of Genji in Colour'
Japanese Winter
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Kimonos
Furnishings
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Ornamentation
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Lanterns
Natural phenomena
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Weather
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Snow
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Asia
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