Introduction

Exhibition Sections

Hishikawa Moronobu
Okumura Masanobu
Suzuki Harunobu
Katsukawa Shunshō
Tsutaya Jūzaburō
Hokusai and His Circle
The Nineteenth Century

Reference

Credits
Exhibition Information
Related Events
Media

Hishikawa Moronobu: First Master of Ukiyo-e

This painting belongs to a tradition of single-figure painting which started in the 1660s and continued throughout the history of ukiyo-e. The painted shells on the young woman’s outer kimono are a reference to the “shell-matching” game, which goes back in Japan to the Heian period (10th–12th century).

In the Edo period, players divided 360 painted shells into left and right, to be matched in pairs and judged accordingly. In Moronobu’s painting two of the shells allude to the game’s antiquity, with scenes of figures in court dress. The intentional juxtaposition of classic motifs and trendy finery heightens the modish effect.

Photo: Courtesy of Richard Fishbein and Estelle Bender

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