Blowing Soap Bubbles Under the Plum Blossom. Artist: Suzuki Harunobu (Japanese, 1725-1770). Culture: Japan. Dimensions: 11 x 8 in. (27.9 x 20.3 cm).In this print the device is again employed of a classical poem incorporated into a cloudlike formation at the top. The poem reads, freely: "I do not want my mind to be tainted by the smell and color of the plums, but the wind stealthily carries the mysterious scent and color into my sleeve." Under a plum blossom tree, a mother blows bubbles as her son watches with amusement. The use of the plum, a symbol of sexuality and eroticism, coupled with the mother's activity and the child's celebratory dancing, seems to suggest the act of procreation and the value of maternity. Museum: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA.