Japanese Print "Mallards Beneath Snow-Laden Reeds" by Utagawa Hiroshige
Artist:Utagawa Hiroshige
Title:Mallards Beneath Snow-Laden Reeds
Date:about 1835
Details:More information...
Source:Worcester Art Museum
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Description:
Bird: Mallards, Anas platyrhynchos Linneaus Two wild mallards (ma-gamo), one preening its feathers and the other "upending" and submerging its head under the water, swim beneath snow-laden, broken reeds (ashi) and falling snow. The drake mallard is easily identified because of its shiny dark-green head and neck, its white neck-ring and its rump with black, curled feathers and white tail. This design is one of the finest of the twenty-five known o-tanzaku format prints designed by Hiroshige. The printer of this early impression took great care in rendering the descending shading of the sky (ten-bokashi) and the rising shading (bokashi) of the icy water to help evoke an atmosphere cold air and loneliness. Embossing with an uninked block (karazuri) also enhances the impression of soft, white feathers. The inscribed haiku poem reads: Calls of wild ducks- As the breeze sets ripples Moving over the water. Kamo naki ya / kaze fukishiwamu / mizu no omo Sugisaka Hyakumei, d. 1784
