(c) 2018 Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston

The Floral Art of Japan

author Josiah Conder (Brixton, England, 1852 - 1920, Tokyo)

publisher Kelly & Walsh (British, founded 1876)

printer Shiuyei Sha (active Tokyo, late 19th century)

illustrator Ogata Gekko (1859 - 1920, Tokyo)

Date1899

Place MadeTokyo, Tokyo, Japan, East Asia

MediumPrinted ink on paper; fourteen colored woodblock prints

Dimensions36.2 x 27.62 x 2.54 cm (14 1/4 x 10 7/8 x 1 in.)

ClassificationsBooks

Credit LineIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston

Accession numberv.1.a.3.7

eMuseum ID728647

EmbARK ObjectID25485

TMS Source ID9383

Last Updated11/9/24

Description1 vol., xi [1] 142 p., illus., folio

Status

Not on view

Web CommentaryThis book was the first to introduce the Japanese art of ikebana, flower arrangement, to an English-speaking audience and is richly illustrated with colored woodcuts of gardens and interiors by the Japanese artist Ogata Gekko. Gretchen Osgood Warren had this copy shipped from Japan to Boston, a journey that took a year. One plate showing the village of Somei recalls Isabella’s annual display of autumnal chrysanthemums in the museum’s courtyard—a tradition we continue today.

BibliographyNotesChristina Nielsen (ed.). Sargent on Location: Gardner's First Artist-in-Residence. Exh. cat. (Boston: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 2018), p. 59 no. 14.
Elizabeth Reluga, "Isabella's Peonies," Inside the Collection (blog), Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 9 June 2020, https://www.gardnermuseum.org/blog/isabellas-peonies
Jenny Pore, "Chrysanthemum Impressions: Spotlight on our Beautiful Blooms," Inside the Collection (blog), Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 30 September 2021, https://www.gardnermuseum.org/blog/chrysanthemum-impressions-spotlight-our-beautiful-blooms

MarksNotesInscribed in ink (frontispiece): Mrs. Gardner / with love / Gretchen Warren

ProvenanceNotesGift from the actress, singer and poet Mrs. Fiske Warren (Gretchen Osgood, 1871-1961) to Isabella Stewart Gardner in 1900.