A Hundred Views of Musashi: Rinsing Cloth in the Tama River
- Medium:
- Woodblock print
- Source:
- Edo-Tokyo Museum
- Image courtesy of
- Edo-Tokyo Museum
Description
The Tama River, flowing through the western outskirts of Musashi Province before entering Tokyo Bay, was a site associated with traditional textile rinsing, where dyed cloth was stretched in the current to fix colors and remove excess dye. This craft subject, long familiar in genre paintings and prints, takes on distinctly Meiji character in Kiyochika's treatment through his use of Western-inflected light falling across the rippled water and bleached fabric. The rural setting on the Tama's banks, away from the urban transformation documented in most of the series, gave the artist material for depicting reflected light on moving water, a technical challenge he approached with short, directional bokashi. The cloths laid across rocks or suspended on frames would have created strong tonal contrasts against the dark riverbank and tree cover.
More Prints by Kobayashi Kiyochika
More Landscapes Prints
Lake Kugushi in Wakasa Province (Wakasa Kugushiko), from the series Souvenirs of Travel I (Tabi miyage dai isshu)"
Wakasa Kugushiko
1920
Color woodblock print; oban
Autumn Maple Leaves at Takao, from the album Eight Views of Kyoto (Kyôto hakkei)
Woodblock print
The Beach at Kaiganji in Sanuki Province (Sanuki Kaiganji no hama), from the series "Collection of Views of Japan II, Kansai Edition (Nihon fukei shu II Kansai hen)"
1934
Color woodblock print; oban
Tea Kettle, section of a sheet from the series "Mirror of Stone Rubbings of Views of the Provinces" (Kohon meihitsu ishizuri kagami)
n.d.
Woodblock print; ishizuri-e, section of harimaze sheet
Featured in Collections
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Frequently Asked Questions
A Hundred Views of Musashi: Rinsing Cloth in the Tama River was created by Kobayashi Kiyochika (小林清親).
A Hundred Views of Musashi: Rinsing Cloth in the Tama River depicts landscapes.