Woman stretching cloth to dry; two children at play
date: label: Date
content: late 17th-early 18th century
label: Period
content: Edo period
name: label: Artist
content: Hanabusa Itcho 英一蝶 (1652-1724)
notes: label: Label
content: One boy chases another beneath a long piece of light blue cloth as a young woman stretches the fabric with sticks to smooth it as it dries. The fabric is attached to a branch of a willow tree that has just begun to show green leaves in spring. The artist Hanabusa Itcho, a native of Osaka, received his artistic training in the traditional Kano school, but he preferred the subjects of daily life and leisure that were popular among patrons of the merchant class. This small, informal painting combines Itcho's technical mastery with perceptive, often humorous observation of contemporary life. This scene reads almost as a modern snapshot; it captures a playful moment in the midst of a mundane task.
label: Provenance
content: To 1903
label: Provenance
content: Bunkio Matsuki (1867-1940), Boston, to 1903 [1]
label: Provenance
content: From 1903 to 1919
label: Provenance
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Bunkio Matsuki in Japan in 1903 [2]
label: Provenance
content: From 1920
label: Provenance
content: Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]
label: Provenance
content: Notes:
label: Provenance
content: [1] Undated folder sheet note. See Original Kakemono List, L. 324, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. For information regarding purchase location, see Accession List.
label: Provenance
content: [2] See note 1.
label: Provenance
content: [3] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920 upon the completion of the Freer Gallery.
label: Collection
content: Freer Gallery of Art Collection
label: Exhibition History
content: Life and Leisure: Everyday Life in Japanese Art (August 14, 2004 to February 20, 2005)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Bunkio Matsuki 松木文恭 (1867-1940) (C.L. Freer source)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)
place: label: Origin
content: Japan
topic: label: Topic
content: playing
label: Topic
content: Edo period (1615 - 1868)
label: Topic
content: child
label: Topic
content: woman
label: Topic
content: Japan
label: Topic
content: ukiyo-e
label: Topic
content: kakemono
label: Topic
content: Japanese Art
label: Topic
content: Charles Lang Freer collection
setName: label: Related Online Resources
content: Google Arts & Culture
label: See more items in
content: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Collection
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Charles Lang Freer
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: F1903.108
objectType: label: Type
content: Painting
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: Ink and light color on silk
label: Dimensions
content: H x W (image): 30 × 47.9 cm (11 13/16 × 18 7/8 in)