Dreaming of The Mouse's Wedding

Object Details

• Artist

  Utagawa Toyokuni I 歌川豊国 (1769-1825)

• Label

  This print, which is likely to be the center panel of a triptych, depicts four women of the Yoshiwara pleasure quarter of Edo. A young courtesan-in-training, whose dream is shown above, is accompanied by a maid and two child apprentices, who play a game of One Hundred Poets, One Poem Each (Hyakunin isshu). The courtesan dreams of a mouse's wedding, which is the basis for a popular story. Here the mouse is transported in a palanquin, the conveyance reserved for the upper classes of Edo society. This image also recalls the Chinese story of Rosei, a man who dreams of a reversal of his fortunes, but who finds upon awakening that his fate is unchanged. Like Rosei, the courtesan dreams in vain of escaping her life in the brothel, perhaps through marriage to a wealthy patron.

• Collection

  National Museum of Asian Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Masterful Illusions: Japanese Prints from the Anne van Biema Collection (September 15, 2002 to January 9, 2003)

• Origin

  Japan

• Credit Line

  The Anne van Biema Collection

• 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.

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• 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

  Utagawa, Toyokuni

• Place

  Japan

• Topic

  Art, Mouse, Oban, Dreaming, Edo period, Japan, (1600 - 1868), Japanese Art, Anne van Biema collection, Ukiyo-e, Woman, Marriage

• Culture

  Japanese

• Object Type

  Prints