Pleasure Boat on the Sumida River
After a major fire in Edo (now Tokyo), the Yoshiwara licensed brothel district was relocated to an area accessed via boat along the Sumida River, giving rise to many compositions depicting travel there. Here, attendants with checkered robes serve refreshment to a client. A figure at the fore of the boat tends to the kitchen. A courtesan at the aft, or rear, surveys the river scene. Acquaintances converse in modest commuter boats, and fishers put in to a tiny island. The boat is near the entrance to the San’ya Canal, where pleasure-seekers would disembark.
Colors in this work
Details
- Date
- 1800s
- Dimensions
- overall: height 1.529 m, width 0.693 m; painting only: height 0.4 m, width 0.553 m; knob diam: height 0.029 m
- Department
- Japanese Art
- Holding institution
- Cleveland Museum of Art
- Palette
-
Select a color to find related artworks.
- Image provider
- cleveland-museum-of-art
- License
- CC0-1.0
- Credit
- The Kelvin Smith Collection, given by Mrs. Kelvin Smith
Art Genome Taxonomy
11 tags
Subject Matter
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Waterscapes Both · 99%
Water occupies most of the painted scene, with a large foreground vessel and several smaller boats distributed across the river.
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Leisure Both · 98%
The central vessel is a pleasure boat, and the catalog describes an excursion associated with travel to the Yoshiwara licensed district.
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Modes of Transportation Both · 99%
Boats and passengers are central visual elements, while the catalog describes travel along the Sumida River and smaller commuter boats.
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Scenes of Everyday Life Both · 90%
The image shows people traveling, conversing, serving refreshments, and working around boats; these activities are also specified in the museum description.
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Human Figure Visual · 99%
Multiple human figures are clearly visible in the foreground boat, smaller boats, and along the riverbanks.
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Flora Visual · 98%
Flowering branches, grasses, reeds, and other vegetation frame the water, especially along the right side and distant shoreline.
Medium and Techniques
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Painting Both · 99%
The museum classifies the work as a painting, and the image visibly presents a painted composition with contour drawing and applied color.
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Hanging Scroll Both · 99%
The work is visibly presented within a vertical scroll mounting, and the museum identifies it as a hanging scroll.
Time Periods
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19th Century Art Metadata · 99%
The museum dates the work to the 1800s, with a recorded date range of 1800–1844.
Geographic Regions
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Japanese Art Metadata · 99%
The artist is identified as Japanese and the place of origin as Japan.
Materials
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Natural Fibers Metadata · 99%
The museum specifies ink and color on silk; silk is a natural-fiber support.
Source & rights
Teisai Hokuba (Japanese, 1771–1844). Pleasure Boat on the Sumida River. Cleveland Museum of Art.
High-resolution sources
- Original TIFF ↗ 11,977 × 8,670 · Cleveland Museum Of Art · Available