The Card Game
Utagawa Toyokuni I · c. 1790 · Art Institute of Chicago
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From the museum
This scene is a wealthy home in Edo. To the left, four young men play a game of cards called karuta, which is still popular in modern Japan. It is played with two decks of one hundred cards each. In one version, the one hundred poet cards, each bearing a portrait of a poet, are spread out before the players. A moderator holds the poem cards and selects a line or phrase from a poem. Players must try to be the first to recognize the author and pick up the face card. The game winner holds the most poet cards at the end.
The museum’s own description, in English. Licence: CC BY 4.0
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Details
- Maker
- Utagawa Toyokuni I 初代 歌川 豊国, Japanese, 1769–1825
- Date
- c. 1790
- Medium
- Color woodblock print; ōban triptych
- Dimensions
- 37 × 74.3 cm (14 5/8 × 29 5/16 in.); Left sheet: 37 × 25.3 cm (14 5/8 × 10 in.); Center sheet: 37.1 × 25.2 cm (14 5/8 × 9 15/16 in.); Right sheet: 37 × 25.2 cm (14 5/8 × 9 15/16 in.); Mat: 57.2 × 95.3 cm (22 1/2 × 37 1/2 in.)
- Place of origin
- Japan
- Held by
- Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago · Not on view
- Credit line
- Clarence Buckingham Collection
Image: Art Institute of Chicago, CC0
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