Awabi and Sayori (Abalone Haliotic tuberculata), from the Great Fish Series

Object Details

• Artist

  Utagawa Hiroshige 歌川広重 (1797-1858)

• Description

  Abalone and the slender sayori, a Japanese fish harvested for food, are the subject of this print.

• Inscriptions

  1. (Ann Yonemura, 10 December 1997) Poems by Kumogaki Fujimi and Miwagaki Mimiki. Poems translated by Ellen Cary and Sally Fisher in "Hiroshige: A Shoal of Fishes".

  On rocks and sand and rinsing waves/ the jewel, abalone, polishes itself.

  The kimono lining comes out/ now that spring is here/ anad the Sayori fish is cleaned for/ a springtime feast./ (The word for removing the cotton padding from a kimono is the same as the word for cleaning fish.)

• Provenance

  To 1997

  Dr. John Fuegi [1]

  From 1997

  Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Dr. John Fuegi [2]

  Notes:

  [1] See Freer Gallery of Art Purchase List after 1920, Collections Management Office.

  [2] See note 1.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Bountiful Waters: Aquatic Life in Japanese Art (March 8 to September 14, 2014)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Dr. John Fuegi

• Origin

  Japan

• Credit Line

  Gift of John Fuegi and Jo Francis

• Type

  Print

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

  There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.

  The information presented on this website may be revised and updated at any time as ongoing research progresses or as otherwise warranted. Pending any such revisions and updates, information on this site may be incomplete or inaccurate or may contain typographical errors. Neither the Smithsonian nor its regents, officers, employees, or agents make any representations about the accuracy, reliability, completeness, or timeliness of the information on the site. Use this site and the information provided on it subject to your own judgment. The National Museum of Asian Art welcomes information that would augment or clarify the ownership history of objects in their collections.

Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1700s, 1710s, 1720s, 1770s, 1780s, 1790s, 1730s, 1740s, 1750s, 1760s, 1800s, 1810s, 1820s, 1830s, 1610s, 1650s, 1640s, 1630s, 1620s, 1690s, 1840s, 1680s, 1850s, 1670s, 1860s, 1660s

• Name

  Fuegi, John

• Place

  Japan

• Topic

  Abalones, Art, Fishes, Edo period, Japan, (1600 - 1868), Japanese Art, Ukiyo-e

• Culture

  Japanese

• Object Type

  Prints