Currently not on view
Mount Fuji of Poems,
1842
Yamaguchi Shidō 山口志道, 1765–1842
Japanese
Edo period, 1603–1868
2009-78
This unusual representation of Mt. Fuji is composed of the poems of ancient courtiers and emperors. The detail of the painting at right illustrates how tiny kana script forms the image of Mt. Fuji. Shido was a literary scholar and historian particularly involved in the study of native traditions of Japan. He taught Japanese classics to nobles who served at the imperial court in Kyoto and worked as a tutor to Emperor Ninko. Shido composed this work on the New Year of 1842, the same year he died.
Information
Title
Mount Fuji of Poems
Dates
1842
Maker
Medium
Hanging scroll; ink on paper
Dimensions
image: 31.8 × 46.5 cm (12 1/2 × 18 5/16 in.)
mount: 126.4 x 61 cm. (49 3/4 x 24 in.)
Credit Line
Museum purchase, Fowler McCormick, Class of 1921, Fund
Object Number
2009-78
Place Made
Asia, Japan
Inscription
Inscribed: ことしの朝は
天保十三壬寅年正月 眼鏡不要 七十八年杉庵志道
In the morning of this year
New Year, 1842 (year of the Tiger); without the use of eyeglasses
By seventy-eight year old Sugi-no-io Shidō
Marks/Labels/Seals
"Sugi-no-io" 杉庵, square, upper seal at bottom left
Artist, "Shidō" 志道, square, lower seal at bottom left
On top of the mountain: seal of the North Star with the character ran 覧
Culture
Period
Materials
Subject
–2009 Erik Thomsen LLC Asian Art (New York, NY), sold to the Princeton University Art Museum, 2009.
