"O": Catalpa Bow, from the series "Tales of Ise in Fashionable Brocade Pictures (Furyu nishiki-e Ise monogatari)"
c. 1772/73
Medium
Color woodblock print; koban
Dimensions
22.9 × 15.8 cm (9 × 6 5/16 in.)
Classification
woodblock print
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
89202
Art Historical Context
In the vibrant world of 18th-century Edo Japan, Katsukawa Shunshō's *“O”: Catalpa Bow captures a poetic moment from the classical *Tales of Ise*, a 10th-century anthology of stories and waka poetry attributed to the dashing courtier Ariwara no Narihira. This print, from Shunshō's innovative series *Tales of Ise inable Brocade Pictures (ūryū nishiki-e Ise monogatari)* around 1772–73, reimagines the tale's ninth episode—where a catalpa wood bow serves as a messenger for unspoken longing—in a stylish, contemporary idiom. Shunshō, a master of the ukiyo-e ("pictures of the floating world") traditio...