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Washington, United States
loves: you win if you guessed "pets" and "museums". Also books, art history, travel, British punk, Korean kimchi, bindis, martinis, and other things TBD. I will always make it very clear if a post is sponsored in any way. Drop me a line at thepetmuseum AT gmail.com !

Friday, June 08, 2018

butterfly kite

Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of the Friends of Arthur B. Duel
https://www.harvardartmuseums.org/collections/object/207663?position=106
Only 8 5/8 x 7 5/16 in., this surimono print by Totoya Hokkei (Japanese, 1780-1850) is a little treat of a print.  As it happens, that's what surimono prints were meant to be; they're specially commissioned images for a private group.  They might be a gift, or an announcement; they were not available to the general public.  This "Cat and Butterfly," from around 1825, is from Hokkei's series A Collection of Thirty-Six Birds and Animals (Sanjûroku tori zukushi).  Oftentimes surimono contained poetry, and were commissioned by the poets.  If that's the case here, and if that calligraphy above is a poem, I wish I could find a translation.  Whose kitten got to play with a butterfly kite?
I have not been able to find all 36 prints in one place to show you, but I'd like you to see a few more.  Have a look at:


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