The Tanabata Crossing Boat (Tanabata no towataru fune)

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

Dateabout 1710

MediumWoodblock print, ink on paper; sumizuri-e

Dimensions28.6 x 42.5 cm (11 1/4 x 16 3/4 in.)

ClassificationsPrints

MarkingsPublisher: Yushima Tenjin, Komatsu-ya, Onnazaka (no) shita

Credit LineJohn Chandler Bancroft Collection

Terms

Object number1901.59.2223

DescriptionHorizontal oban (oban yoko-e)
Label TextTanabata is the "Weavers' Festival," celebrated on the seventh day of the seventh month, when according to the familiar legend the Spinning Maiden and her lover the Celestial Herdsman can come together by crossing a bridge formed by a flight of magpies over the Milky Way, "The River of Heaven" (Ama-no-gawa). These lovers are thought to be the spirits of Lyra and Aquila.This print depicts a courtesan writing a poem about the Milky Way on a narrow poem slip (tanzaku). She is seated between bamboo branches arranged in the form of a boat, dressed in a kimono with a pattern of pine and plum. Reclining by her side is a young man who reads a poem he has just finished writing. A young boy (in a kimono decorated with origami cranes (tsuru) and bamboo) imitates the action of a boatman poling the craft along. The bamboo branches are hung with poem slips of various (colors,) shapes and sizes. The stars in the sky above are represented by bubbles.

On View

Not on view