MEET IT IN 30 SECONDS
冨嶽三十六景 神奈川沖浪裏
A curling wave towers over long boats, with Mount Fuji small in the distance. Hokusai’s colour woodblock design survives in multiple impressions; here the focus is the sheet numbered JP1847 at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Under the Wave off Kanagawa, commonly called The Great Wave, belongs to Katsushika Hokusai’s Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji. This page follows The Met’s impression JP1847: a woodblock print in ink and colour on paper, dated about 1830–32 and measuring 25.7 × 37.9 cm.
The rectangular cartouche at upper left names the series and the view, with Hokusai’s signature beside it. JP1847 identifies the museum object. It is an accession number, rather than part of the printed title.
The wave rises on the left and curls toward the centre, breaking into small curved tips. Fuji appears as a small triangle beneath the opening. The contrast between the large foreground wave and distant mountain establishes depth.
Three long boats cross the composition, with figures crouching low in them. The detail brings the foreground hulls and distant Fuji together at a larger scale. It makes their positions easier to follow.
In general ukiyo-e production, the designer, block cutter and printer worked together. Cutting removes the areas that should not print, leaving raised lines and surfaces. The printer colours those surfaces, places paper over them and rubs the back. Registration marks align successive colour blocks.
Re-inking a block allows another sheet to be printed. A work’s title can therefore refer to a design shared by several impressions, while an accession number identifies one physical object. Dimensions and collection records belong to the particular sheet.
The Met’s 2020 account describes outlines printed with mixed Prussian blue and indigo, followed by another blue impression in selected areas. The added layer darkens those areas. The museum describes its sheet as probably an early impression; pigment and printing-layer claims come from analysis, rather than a judgement from a screen image.
The collection record credits the H. O. Havemeyer Collection and the 1929 bequest of Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer. The approximate 1830–32 date concerns production. The later date records this sheet’s entry into The Met, rather than when Hokusai designed the view.
JP1847 is the museum accession number; the cartouche names the series and view.
The small triangular mountain is behind the boats, beneath the wave’s opening.
Blocks can be inked again and printed on another sheet.
Registration marks guide the alignment of colour blocks.
The bequest of this impression to The Met by Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer.
The Met’s research account, which retains “probably” rather than claiming a first impression.