Night Rain at the Double-Shelf Stand, from the series Eight Parlor Views (Zashiki hakkei)
ca. 1766
Medium
Woodblock print (first edition); ink and colors on paper, medium-sized print (chuban)
Dimensions
11 1/4 x 8 in. (28.6 x 20.3 cm)
Classification
Prints
Culture & Period
Japan · Edo period (1615–1868)
Department
Asian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Francis Lathrop Collection, Purchase, Frederick C. Hewitt Fund, 1911
Accession Number
JP698
Tags
Art Historical Context
Suzuki Harunobu's *Night Rain at the Doublehelf Stand*, from the *Eight Parlor ViewsZashiki hakkei)*, captures a cozy Edo-period domestic scene around 1766. Part of a clever parody of the classic Chinese *Eight Views of Xiao-Xiang* landscapes Harunobu reimagines these motifs in intimate Japanese parlors (zashiki), blending with everyday life. Here, a rainy night unfolds at a double-shelf stand—likely a tea shop or home display—featuring women and boys amid steaming tea vessels, evoking quiet warmth against the pattering rain. As a pioneer of full-color woodblock prints (nishiki-e), Harunobu r...
About the Artist
Suzuki Harunobu · 1725–1770
Suzuki Harunobu (c. 1725-1770) was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist who revolutionized woodblock printing by developing nishiki-e—full-color prints using multiple woodblocks—in 1765. Before Harunobu, Japanese prints were limited to two or three colors; his innovation unleashed the entire artist's palette, transforming ukiyo-e into the vibrant art form that would later captivate Western artists from Manet...