• Kitagawa Utamaro (1753?–1806), illustrator; with Akera Kankō (1740–1800), editor. 潮干のつとShiohi no tsuto (Gifts from the Ebb Tide). [Edo]: Kōshōdō Tsutaya Juzaburō, ca. 1789.

Curatorial note:

A masterpiece of design and execution, this first edition copy of Gifts from the Ebb Tide incorporates many of the luxurious techniques and processes available to the publishing industry of the late eighteenth century. The woodblock-printed book has rich, full-color illustrations that are embellished with sprinkled mica and mother-of-pearl, and motifs that are enhanced with gold, brass filings, and pipette-blown pigment. Images are brought to life with three-dimensional textures, created by embossing (gauffrage), that transmute the images with changes in lighting. The book was conceived by the famous publisher Tsutaya Juzaburō (1750–1797) as the culmination of a group of poets’ day at the seashore. Following the classical Japanese trope of “the thirty-six poets,” there are thirty-six poems about shells by these noted poets, along with illustrations by Utamaro, one of Japan’s most celebrated woodblock print artists. Here, among other shells on the sparkling sand at the bottom of the sea, an abalone “glistening like a pearl” is a “sight for sore eyes.”

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Title:
  • 潮干のつと.
  • Shiohi no tsuto
Language:
  • Japanese
Call number:
  • NE1310.K6 S45 1789
  • Electronic Resource
Extent:
  • 10 leaves : color illustrations ; 25 x 19 cm
Format:
  • Book
Type:
  • Illustrated books
Description:
  • Title from label.
  • Color woodblock-printed, with gold and mica and mother of pearl embellishments.
  • Preface signed: Akera Kankō.
Publisher:
  • Edo : Kōshōdō Tsutaya Jūzaburō, [approximately 1789]
  • 江戶 : 蔦屋重三郎, [approximately 1789]
Subject:
  • Shells in art
  • Sea in art
  • Marine animals in art
  • Illustrated books
Title sort:
  • Shiohi no tsuto.
Created:
  • 1789-01-01T00:00:00Z
Date:
  • 1789
Location:
  • SAX NE1310.K6 S45 1789
  • SAX Electronic Resource
  • ELF1 NE1310.K6 S45 1789
  • ELF1 Electronic Resource
Identifier:
  • ark:/88435/ng451n45c
Edm rights:
  • No Known Copyright
Alternative:
  • Gifts from the ebb-tide
  • Shell book
Artist:
  • Kitagawa, Utamaro, 1753?-1806
Creator:
  • Kitagawa, Utamaro, 1753?-1806
  • 北川哥麿, 1753?-1806
Contributor:
  • Tsutaya, Jūzaburō, 1750-1797
  • 蔦屋重三郎, 1750-1797
Abstract:
  • Gifts from the ebb tide; Shell book.
Range label:
  • Logical
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