1838 (ca.), Utagawa Hiroshige, Kingfisher and iris (left); Kingfisher and cotton rose (right) -- British Museum (London)
From the museum label: These kingfisher prints are inscribed with the same playful haiku by Sawa (Fujiya) Rosen (1661-1743): 'The kingfisher gazes / into the mirroring water / and preens its feathers.' It is the first of three poems on kingfishers included in The Five Hundred Topics Addressed by Poets of Yore, an anthology of haiku that Hiroshige often consulted for inscriptions.
1838 (ca.), Utagawa Hiroshige, Kingfisher and iris (left); Kingfisher and cotton rose (right) -- British Museum (London)
From the museum label: These kingfisher prints are inscribed with the same playful haiku by Sawa (Fujiya) Rosen (1661-1743): 'The kingfisher gazes / into the mirroring water / and preens its feathers.' It is the first of three poems on kingfishers included in The Five Hundred Topics Addressed by Poets of Yore, an anthology of haiku that Hiroshige often consulted for inscriptions.