pony dancer

Suzuki Nanrei

1775–1844

pony dancer, 1813, Edo period (1600–1868)

Portfolio/Series title: Asakusagawa gajō (An Album of Pictures for the Asakusa Group)

Where object was made: Japan

Material/technique: color woodcut

Dimensions:
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 202 x 180 mm
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 79 1/2 x 70 7/8 in
Mat Dimensions (Height x Width): 19 x 14 in

Credit line: William Bridges Thayer Memorial

Accession number: 0000.1552

Not on display

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Label texts

Archive Label date unknown:
The Spring Pony Dance was performed both as street and parlor entertainment at the begining of each year. The woman in this picture holds two hand puppets. The print is skillfully engraved and printed to reproduce the effect of the artist's free and spirited sketches. Nanrei was a major Edo painter who mastered the Shijo painting style.

Archive Label date unknown:
The print of a woman with pony puppets on her hands is from an album done for the Asakusa Poetry Group. The Spring Pony Dance was performed both as street and parlor entertainment at the begining of each year. Four poems, written by four poets who were probably members of this group, are written in the delicate script on the right and above the dancing figure.

The surimono is slightly unusual as it has been done in the Shijō style, a style particularly popular in the Kyoto-Osaka area. In contrast to the tight, fine lines in other surimono, a broad, loose, sketchy line characterized the work of Shijō artists. The color in these prints is generally more pastel and transparent than the bold, bright opaque hues of more conventional surimono.