Heating Sake with a Fire of Maple Leaves (Kanzake Momiji-gari)

Artist Okumura Masanobu 奥村政信 (Japanese, 1686–1764)

Dateabout 1710

MediumWoodblock print; ink on paper; sumizuri-e

Dimensions26.7 x 35.9 cm (10 1/2 x 14 1/8 in.)

ClassificationsPrints

Credit LineJohn Chandler Bancroft Collection

Terms

Object number1901.311

DescriptionHorizontal oban (oban yoko-e)
Label TextThis is a mitate (parody) of the old legend that when servants of the Imperial Palace made a fire of autumn leaves to heat sake, Emperor Takakura, instead of being displeased, was delighted and said that the servants must have been inspired by a famous ode. In this parody, a traveling samurai wearing a basket hat is shown approaching a group of four women. In this print a traveling samurai wearing a basket hat approaches a mother playing a samisen while two of her daughters are seated by her side and a third daughter is burning maple leaves under a sake kettle that hangs from the branch of a maple tree by means of a sash. The kimono of one of the daughters bears the mon of Nakamura Gentaro, a famous actor of women's roles in the early years of the 18th century.

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