Plucking a Branch from a Neighbor's Plum Tree
Tokyo: Shuei-Sha, 1768. Woodblock print in colors printed on laid mulberry paper, 10 3/4 x 7 7/8 inches (273 x 200 mm), full margins. In excellent condition with the extreme lower right corner slightly dog-eared. Well inked with good coloring. Printed later. From the collection of 24 masterpieces by Harunobu published in 1963 by Shuei-Sha and printed by Toppan, Tokyo. With the publisher's chop mark in black ink on the verso.
An impression of the 1768 edition of this work may be found in the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art; Object Number: JP2451.
This print is an excellent example of Harunobu's artistic taste—reflecting non-sensuous tenderness and exquisiteness of figures. Casting off her sandals, a young woman has climbed onto her maid's back to break off a branch of a plum tree growing over a tall wall with a tiled ridge. The two women are elegant and gentle despite their tomboyish behavior. The rigid and monotonous pattern of bricks in the fence is a foil for the graceful figures. Despite Harunobu's depiction of these two young women as innocent, the expression "plucking a branch of plum blossoms" typically refers to a fashionably dressed female and even carries sexual overtones. The young woman wears a kimono (furisode) with hanging sleeves and a design of snow-clad bamboo. Her elaborately tied obi, or sash, has a scrolling floral pattern. –Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Item number: 1945
Price: $1,000.00
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