Namiwa no bessō akebono no zu – Antique Print
(Originally scanned by the Library of Congress. Each image is professionally and digitally cleaned of artifacts such as color bars and extra borders prior to printing.)
Description
This rare historic print captures Namiwa no bessō akebono no zu in remarkable detail. It comes from the collections of the Library of Congress, scanned from the original and carefully restored.
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Namiwa no bessō akebono no zu
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This triptych takes its title from the dawn, *Akebono no zu*, a pale-morning scene that spreads across three vertical sheets and ties its figures to the hour when the night's company was ending. It belongs to the Genji-e tradition, in which Edo printmakers drew on *The Tale of Genji*, the court novel written by Murasaki Shikibu in the early 11th century, to dress contemporary beauties in richly patterned robes. The subject tags point to the garments and the intimate relations between the sexes, both prominent in these prints of the 1850s. Its color woodcut technique, with layered blocks and careful gradations, shows the craft that made the mid-century Japanese print so popular.
| Created / published | 1855 |
|---|---|
| Medium | 1 print (3 sheets) : woodcut, color ; 35.6 x 24.4 cm (left panel), 36.6 x 24.5 cm (center panel), 36.6 x 24.4 cm (right panel) |
| Genre | Triptychs Japanese 1850-1860.Ukiyo-e Japanese Color 1850-1860.Woodcuts Japanese Color 1850-1860. |
| Notes | Title and other descriptive information compiled by Nichibunken-sponsored Edo print specialists in 2005-06. Triptych matted in 3 sections: left (2218a), center (2218b), right (2218c). Format: vertical Oban Nishikie triptych, Genji-e. Forms part of: Japanese prints and drawings (Library of Congress). |
| Subjects | Women--Clothing & dress--Japan--1850-1860. Relations between the sexes--Japan--1850-1860. Sunrises & sunsets--Japan--1850-1860. |
| Source | Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division |
| Original scan | 3,572 × 4,483 px · prints to 12 × 15 in at 300 dpi |
| Reference | AMZ-SOTP-HPA-221909 |
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