Two Men Wearing Yellow Coats and Straw Hats with Red Bows
1840
Medium
Woodblock print (surimono); ink and color on paper
Dimensions
7 1/8 x 6 13/16 in. (18.1 x 17.3 cm)
Classification
Prints
Culture & Period
Japan · Edo period (1615–1868)
Department
Asian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Rogers Fund, 1921
Accession Number
JP1250
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the vibrant world of Edo-period Japan (1615–1868), Yashima Gaki's *Two Men Wearing Yellow Coats and Straw Hats Red Bows* (1840) captures the spirit of everyday life through a delicate woodblock print known as *surimono*. These intimate, privately commissioned prints were a luxury art form, often created for New Year's celebrations or poetry gatherings among the literati elite. Unlike mass-produced ukiyo-e, *surimono* featured exquisite craftsmanship, with rich inks, vibrant colors, and sometimes subtle embossing or metallic accents, making this 7 1/8 x 6 13/16 in. gem a treasured collector'...
About the Artist
Yashima Gakutei · 1786–1868
Yashima Gakutei (c. 1786–1868), born in Osaka as the illegitimate son of a Tokugawa shogunate samurai named Hirata, adopted the name from his mother's subsequent marriage into the Yashima clan. Little is documented about his early years beyond these familial ties, but he pursued artistic training under the esteemed ukiyo-e masters Totoya Hokkei and Katsushika Hokusai, absorbing their precision in ...