Minneapolis Institute of Art
Mice on Rice-cake Flowers
Nagasawa RosetsuLinkedCulture matchlcp-b7fafd2c9536
- Date
- late 1790s
- Medium
- Hanging scroll, ink and color on silk
- Department
- Asian Art
- Institution
- Minneapolis Institute of Art
- Object ID
- 37190
From the Minneapolis Institute of Art record
Four mice munch on little bits of mochi (rice dough) that dot a plum tree branch, as a baby mouse watches nearby. In Japan, the first full moon of the new year is known as “Small New Year’s Day” (Koshōgatsu). A typical decoration for the occasion includes “mochi flowers” (mochi bana)—small pieces of rice cakes pierced onto a branch of Chinese sumac, Chinese hackberry, or willow—that were made to wish for a good harvest. This image references a haiku for New Year’s by poet Matsuo Bashō (1644–1694): “These rice cake flowers / put up for decorations / for the first mouse.” Asia
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Provenance & credit
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- Credit line
- Mary Griggs Burke Collection, Gift of the Mary and Jackson Burke Foundation
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