Peonies
- Date:
- n.d.
- Medium:
- Color woodblock print; surimono
- Format:
- Oban
- Source:
- Art Institute of Chicago
This surimono — a luxury privately commissioned print — depicts peonies (botan), the "king of flowers" in East Asian floral symbolism, associated with wealth, beauty, and feminine elegance. Utamaro produced surimono for poetry circles and wealthy patrons, and floral subjects allowed the full display of the refined color printing and metallic dusting for which surimono were celebrated. The peony's lush, layered petals were a natural subject for polychrome woodblock technique.
![A Low Class Prostitute (Gun [teppo]), from the series “Five Shades of Ink in the Northern Quarter" ("Hokkoku goshiki-zumi") by Kitagawa Utamaro](https://www.artic.edu/iiif/2/ed82be98-8a83-4163-ccc4-e2f7210cce55/full/843,/0/default.jpg)
c. 1794/95
Color woodblock print; oban
c. 1793
color woodblock print
Woodblock print
Woodblock print
Peonies was created by Kitagawa Utamaro (喜多川歌麿) in n.d..
Peonies depicts birds & flowers and still life.
