Category:

Municipally Designated Tangible Cultural Property (Painting)

Title:

Shihonchakushoku koikamezu katsushika hokusai hitsu

Illustration of Carp and Turtles by Katsushika Hokusai (Color on Paper)
紙本着色鯉亀図葛飾北斎筆

No. of features:

One scroll

Designated:

March 14, 2008

Location:

Saitama Prefectural Museum of History and Folklore (opens to new page)

4-219 Takahanacho, Omiya Ward

Owner:

Saitama Prefecture

Description:

Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) was an ukiyo-e artist during the late Edo period. He is an exemplary member of the merchant class that prospered in Edo society.

“Illustration of Koi and Turtles” was handpainted by the 54-year-old Hokusai in 1813.  It is a standard example of Hokusai’s works at the height of his maturity.

The painting is arranged in landscape orientation, 26.8 cm tall and 91.8 cm wide. In it, two carp and a pair of turtles swim through the water, lively and richly painted with a three-dimensional quality. There is an inscription that details the transfer of Hokusai’s seal “Kimo dasoku” (“hair on a turtle, legs on a snake”, a reference to a legend that tells artists to avoid extraneous brushstrokes) in the lefthand corner.

Associated Texts:

(2011). “Survey Report on Saitama Prefecture’s Designated Cultural Properties” (vol. 25). Saitama Prefectural Board of Education.

Please be courteous towards other visitors, locals, and the site’s owners/curators when visiting this cultural property. This cultural property’s availability may vary; for details, please contact the Saitama Prefectural Museum of History and Folklore.

Inquiries (Japanese only)

Cultural Heritage Preservation Division, Department of Lifelong Learning, Board of Education Secretariat　

TEL：048-829-1723 FAX：048-829-1989

https://www.city.saitama.jp/004/005/006/001/017/011/002/p006369.html