Utagawa HiroshigeJapanese, 1797–1858Eight Shadow Figures
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Minneapolis Institute of Art
Minneapolis, United States
It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
About the work
The three prints in Hiroshige’s New Edition of Shadow Making series were probably considered omocha-e (toy pictures) intended for children. Creating shadows through hand gestures was a common pastime for children, and such pictures would have helped them build their repertoire. The eight patterns presented here (clockwise from upper right) are a turtle on a rock, a man wearing a Chinese-style hat, a rabbit, a shachihoko (a legendary creature with the head of dragon and the body of a dolphin), an owl, a fox, a snail, and a crow. Three include written instructions on how to make the shadows move: “open your fingers within your sleeve to move the owl’s wings, ” “draw up your knee for the fox’s back, ” “move the chopsticks up and down [snail].”
Minneapolis Institute of Art
Particulars
- Accession number
- P.75.51.426
In the catalog
Sources
- Minneapolis Institute of Art
- Image: Minneapolis Institute of Art — public domain
![Shinano Province, Moon Reflected in the Sarashina Paddy-fields, Mount Kyōdai (Shinano, Sarashina tagoto no tsuki, Kyōdaisan), from the series Famous Places in the Sixty-odd Provinces [of Japan] ([Dai Nihon] Rokujūyoshū meisho zue), Utagawa Hiroshige 歌川広重, Edo period, 1853 (Kaei 6, 8th month)](https://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUAM:CARP04802_dynmc/full/!2400,2400/0/default.jpg)
