Autumn Moon above Mount Ishiyama

The sheet is an example of the hand-coloured black and white woodblock print of the “lacquer picture” urushi-e type done by the Torii studio, namely the sixth sheet (Roku) from the series Eight Views of Biwa Lake (Ōmi hakkei). It was probably printed between 1726 and 1736 and designed by Torii Kiyomasu II (1706–1763). The view of excursionists in a boat is complemented by a distinct black drawing of the Ishiyama mountain range with a monastery above the river of Seta, which flows south of Biwa Lake through the former Ōmi region. The calligraphic inscription in the sheet’s upper part describes the depicted place with the poem Autumn Moon above Mount Ishiyama (Ishiyama no aki no tsuki): Ishiyama ya / iwa no umi teru / tsukikage wa / Akashi mo Suma mo / soto nara wa ka wa; Behold Mount Ishi / with grebes on the lake / in the shadow of the moon / both Akashi and Suma / are easily humbled.