Artist: Suzuki Harunobu [鈴木 春信] (Japanese, c. 1725 – 15 July 1770)
Signed: 春信画 (Harunobu ga)
Date: c. 1769–70
Media: Woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper; Hashira-e (pillar print) 65.5 × 11.8 cm (25.8 × 4.6 inches)

Title: The Ide Jewel River, a Famous Place in Yamashiro Province (Ide no Tamagawa, Yamashiro no meisho, 井手の玉川 山城の名所)
From the series “The Six Jewel Rivers in Popular Customs” (Fūzoku Mu Tamagawa, 風俗六玉川)

Description:
A pillar print depicting two elegant young women walking through shallow water along the Ide River (井手の玉川), one of the six poetic “jewel rivers” of classical Japanese lore.
They wear graceful layered kimono with seasonal motifs, and their hair is styled in the formal tōrōbin (灯籠鬢) fashion, adorned with delicate hair ornaments.
The leading figure raises the hem of her robe to avoid the water, while both women wear high wooden clogs (geta, 下駄) appropriate for river travel.
Behind them, flowering trees and a flowing landscape evoke the scenic reputation of Yamashiro Province (山城国).

At upper left is a cartouche containing a poem:

駒とめて/ なお水かはん/ 山ぶきの/ 花の露ぞう/ 井手の玉川
(Koma tomete / nao mizu kawan / yamabuki no / hana no tsuyu sō / Ide no Tamagawa)
“Stopping my horse, / I still would not drink the water — / for the dew on the yamabuki flowers / seems to be the jewel water / of the Ide River.”

This poetic image blends seasonal beauty with classical literary reference, a hallmark of Harunobu’s late-period hashira-e designs.

References:

• MFA Boston, accession no. 21.4540

• David Waterhouse, The Harunobu Decade (2013), #562

• Pins, The Japanese Pillar Print (1982), #139

• Ukiyo-e shūka 4 (1979), list #795.4; supplement 2 (1982), pl. 565

• AIC (Chicago), Gentles catalogue II (1965), p. 125, #201