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Blackness (Kurobô), from the series An Incense Contest (Takimono awase)

Blackness (Kurobô), from the series An Incense Contest (Takimono awase)

(Japanese, active about 1830–60)
about 1835 (Tenpô 6)
Medium/TechniqueWoodblock print (surimono); ink and color on paper
DimensionsShikishiban; 21 x 18 cm (8 1/4 x 7 1/16 in.)
Credit LineWilliam Sturgis Bigelow Collection
Accession number11.20729
On View
Not on view
ClassificationsPrints
InscriptionsPoem by Chôkintei Aoki: Umezono no/ kata yori soyo to/ kayou kaze/ oboroge naranu/ haru no soradaki Poem by Shinryûtei Harukaze: Kujira obi/ kuroki kata yori/ harukaze no/ ka o sasoi kuru/ oridashi no ume Poem by Shakuyakutei: Ume ga ka wa/ ikade kakuren/ kuro kosode/ fusego ni kakeshi/ haru no yoiyami
ProvenanceBy 1911, purchased by William Sturgis Bigelow (b. 1850 - d. 1926), Boston [see note 1]; 1911, gift of Bigelow to the MFA. (Accession Date: August 3, 1911)

NOTES:
[1] Much of Bigelow's collection of Asian art was formed during his residence in Japan between 1882 and 1889, although he also made acquisitions in Europe and the United States. Bigelow deposited many of these objects at the MFA in 1890 before donating them to the Museum's collection at later dates.