Mariko meibutsu chaya (The Famous Teahouse at Mariko)
Utagawa (Andō) Hiroshige, Japanese, 1797 - 1858
1832-1834
Color woodblock print on paper
Impression: 9 × 14 in. (22.9 × 35.6 cm)
Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth: Gift of John C. Richardson, Class of 1941, in memory of his father, Edward C. Richardson, Class of 1905
PR.972.63.21
Portfolio / Series Title
Station 20 from Tōkaidō gojūsan tsugi no uchi (Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido) (Hōeidō edition)
Geography
Place Made: Japan, East Asia, Asia
Period
19th century
Object Name
Research Area
Not on view
Label
Utagawa Hiroshige employs a restrained color palette to depict a teahouse set within a bucolic country setting along the Tōkaidō road. As three travelers unwind with refreshments in the teahouse, the relaxing properties of this beverage and its associated rituals are foregrounded. The surrounding vegetation indicates the season, while the horizon’s gentle gradation enhances the landscape’s tranquility.
The four figures, distinctively illustrated in Prussian blue, stand in stark contrast to the gradated landscape. Although the landscape’s muted hues contribute to the print’s overall beauty, the deliberate color deviation of the figures prompts the viewer to focus on what they are doing. As the two men cross their legs while holding a bowl and a teacup, a woman stands by to serve them with a child on her back—an interaction that humanizes the scene.
From the 2024 exhibition A Space for Dialogue 118, Coffee and Tea in Art: A Brew of Cultural Symbolism, Solace, and Introspection, curated by Jeffrey Liu '24, Class of 1954 Intern
Course History
ARTH 65, Japanese Prints, Allen Hockley, Spring 2013
ARTH 65, Japanese Prints, Allen Hockley, Winter 2015
ARTH 62.3, Japanese Prints, Allen Hockley, Winter 2019
ARTH 62.30/ASCL 62.12, Japanese Prints, Allen Hockley, Spring 2021
ARTH 62.30/ASCL 62.12, Japanese Prints, Allen Hockley, Spring 2022
Art History 62.30, Asian Societies, Cultures, and Languages 62.12, Japanese Prints, Allen Hockley, Spring 2023
Art History 62.30, Asian Societies, Cultures, and Languages 62.12, Japanese Prints, Allen Hockley, Summer 2023
Exhibition History
A Space for Dialogue 118, Coffee and Tea in Art: A Brew of Cultural Symbolism, Solace, and Introspection, Jeffrey Liu '24, Class of 1954 Intern, Alvin P. Gutman Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, May 11 - July 7, 2024
Munakata at Dartmouth, Class of 1967 Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, January 26-March 26, 2019.
Utagawa Hiroshige: The Great Tokaido, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, January 9-March 14, 1993, no. 21.
Published References
Hokusai and Hiroshige: Great Japanese Prints from the James A. Michener Collection, Honolulu Academy of Arts. (San Francisco: The Asian Art Museum of San Francisco in association with the Honolulu Academy of Arts and University of Washington Press, Seattle and London, 1998)
Provenance
Probably collected by Edward Curtis Richardson (1881-1968), in Japan, 1920s; to his son, John Curtis Richardson (1919-2003), South Berwick, Maine, about 1968; given to present collection, 1972.
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