The Second Month, Plum Tree at the Water's Edge
"The Second Month, Plum Tree at the Water's Edge" is one of Harunobu's masterpieces. It is the piece inspired by a waka poem written around 1086 and Harunobu depicted a young couple attempting to snap the branch of the white plum tree. The plum branch must be a gift for the lady who is looking at a young man. The pitch black of the background is expressing it is a night scene. A waka poem which is written about the plum tree and the stream underneath is placed on the top of the print.
The plum tree with blossoms was a very popular motif in ukiyo-e as well as cherry blossoms and Harunobu often depicted it with the characters. The plum blossoms are very fragrant and we feel as if it reaches us through the print by Harunobu's skillful expression. It is Harunobu's magic to bring us into his dreamy world in his every single print.
↙️Enjoy the great story behind this work!
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| Size/Weight | Print Size: 30.0 × 21.6 cm |
| Material | Paper: Echizen Kizuki Hosho Washi made by Living National Treasure, Ichibei Iwano |
| Feature | Type of print: Woodcut Print |
| Notes | This product includes: ・A leaflet to introduce the production process of ukiyo-e print |
◆STORY1：People living in Harunobu's dreamy world
The characters whom Harunobu portrayed in his works are always slender, looking fragile and genderless. These character designs are distinctively different from the design of Utamaro who was active after Harunobu's time.
Harunobu expresses very delicate emotions between characters with their facial expressions. Since Harunobu's characters have very small and delicate faces, fingers and toes, carving the wood block of Harunobu's prints requires extremely high skills. Only the first class carver can fully translate Harunobu's brush strokes.
◆STORY2：Special "Sumi" ink and printer's skill to produce the pitch-black dark
Harunobu depicted many night scenes and featured print in this article "The Second Month, the Plum Tree at the water's edge" is also the night scene. He expressed the night with the pitch-black background. Actually, this matte black can only be produced with special "Sumi" black ink purified beforehand.
Normally solid Sumi is congealed with Nikawa glue (animal glue). At Adachi, we put this solid Sumi into the pot full of water and leave it for a while to soften Sumi and make glue been melted into the water. The top layer of water in the pot needs to be changed frequently, so that the Sumi left on the bottom of the pot purified as just Sumi. Then the pure Sumi is grinded in the special pot to be made into shiny Sumi with super fine particles.
The printer needs to let this special Sumi soak well into the paper fiber. To print a large part of just matte black evenly is extremely difficult and requires very advanced skill. The pitch-black dark which Harunobu liked to use only can be produced with specially made Sumi black ink and advanced printer's technique.
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Adachi's Philosophy and Mission
At Adachi Institute of Woodcut Prints, we create attractive works that are in keeping with the times while maintaining the basics of traditional woodcut printing techniques.
Adachi's Meticulous Quality and Materials
At Adachi Institute of Woodcut Prints, we use carefully selected materials and tools to bring out the original beauty of woodcut prints to the fullest.
Traditional Techniques and Adachi's Artisans
The production of ukiyo-e, which developed as a commercial printing method, focused on efficiency and profitability. And so, all processes are streamlined and sophisticated. We will introduce the basics of ukiyo-e techniques.
