Mandarin Ducks (Oshidori)
Artist
Utagawa Hiroshige I 歌川 広重
Japanese, 1797–1858
Dateabout 1836
Mediumwoodblock print, ink and color on paper; o-tanzaku
Dimensions37.2 x 17.2 cm (14 5/8 x 6 3/4 in.)
ClassificationsPrints
Credit LineJohn Chandler Bancroft Collection
Object number1901.59.1473
DescriptionBird: Mandarin Duck, Aix galericulata Linneaus. Plants: Water plantains with flowers and broad leaves.Label TextDepicted in pairs, mandarin ducks (oshidori) symbolize married love and fidelity. According to legends, mandarin ducks stay together for life. The haiku reads:For mandarin ducks
Thin ice is a wedding cup,
Now and forever.
Oshidori no / sakazuki to chiyo / usukori
The resplendent drake swimming in the lead is endowed with a red bill, a sweeping white brow, long orange-red whiskers, a crest of chestnut, green, and purple feathers as well as cinnamon-orange fan-shaped 'sails' (tertiary feathers). The smaller female, on the other hand, is grayish-brown with a white eye-ring and rear eye-stripe. As a pair they will build a nest in a tree-hole at the water's edge.
Artistic touches add to the subtlety of the composition: a blade of grass and the beak of the female direct our attention towards the calligraphy while broad impressionistic strokes depicting the flowing, transparent water allow us a glimpse of the drake's paddling red feet.
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