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Sparrows and Camellia in Snow

A color woodblock print of a single branch of camellia flowers and two sparrows set against a white and blue background with snow falling
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A color woodblock print of a single branch of camellia flowers and two sparrows set against a white and blue background with snow falling

Date:

c. 1831/33

Artist:

Utagawa Hiroshige 歌川 広重
Japanese, 1797–1858

About this artwork

Of the two versions of this design in the Art Institute’s collection, this image is accepted as the earlier printing of this famous design. The poetry appearing on both impressions has been identified by the scholar Suzuki Juzo as the first two lines of an unsigned Chinese poem entitled “Inquiry of a Stork” by Hakurakuten (772–846). It reads:

Crows and storks fight over something to eat
and sparrows over where to sleep,
You stand there all alone by the pond,
the wind blows and snow piles up.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Arts of Asia

Artist

Utagawa Hiroshige

Title

Sparrows and Camellia in Snow

Place

Japan (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1826–1838

Medium

Color woodblock print; o-tanzaku

Dimensions

38 × 17.3 cm (15 × 6 13/16 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of H. R. Warner

Reference Number

1932.208

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/11039/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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