Sanjo Kantaro as a Young Woman Standing in a Wisteria Arbor (c. early or mid 1730s): Art, History and Details

Sanjo Kantaro as a Young Woman Standing in a Wisteria Arbor (c. early or mid 1730s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Torii Kiyonobu I (Japanese, 1664–1729).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

This rare, hand-colored print incorporates a technique called urushi-e, literally "lacquer picture," in which the artist paints deer glue over areas of black pigment, producing a lustrous effect reminiscent of lacquer. Metal filings were sometimes sprinkled onto the pigment for decorative effect. Kiyonobu’s prints are characteristically hand-colored and outlined in black. Inspired by a family tradition of painters of Kabuki posters, Kiyonobu created prints mainly of actors and scenes from plays.

Object facts

• Title: Sanjo Kantaro as a Young Woman Standing in a Wisteria Arbor
• Date: c. early or mid 1730s
• Creator attribution: Torii Kiyonobu I (Japanese, 1664–1729)
• Culture: Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)
• Type: Print
• Technique: color woodblock print
• Dimensions: Sheet: 29.8 x 15.2 cm (11 3/4 x 6 in.)
• Collection: Japanese Art
• Department: Japanese Art
• Accession number: 1916.1128

Collection credit

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Wade

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.