| Method | Woodblock (nishiki-e) |
| Artist | Toyohara Chikanobu (1838-1912) |
| Published | 1897 |
| Dimensions | Ôban tate-e triptych [Each sheet ~15.6 x 10.7 inches] |
| Notes |
Series: Chiyoda no Ooku: The Chiyoda Inner Palace Artist Signature: Yoshu Chikanobu Seals: Artist's seal Publisher: Fukuda Hatsujiro A tripych depicting a group of bijin, or beauties, playing the card game Karuta. The four figures are seen knelt on the floor, their cards spread out on the floor in front of them. They all wear colourful and intricate kimonos, an older lady with glasses seen to the right wears a slightly plainer patterned kimono. Toyohara Chikanobu (1838-1912) was a student of Toyohara Kunichika (not to be confused with the Kunichika Toyohara (1835-1900) of the same name). Originally Hashimoto, he took both the last name and the second part "chika" of his master's first name. This followed an old tradition of students inheriting the already established names of their masters. Favourite subjects of Chikanobu were historical and mythological legends and histories from Japan's past and genre scenes with women and children. The percentage of triptychs among the prints created by the artist is maybe higher than for any other artist of the Meiji period. His best known series are triptychs showing court life in and around the Chiyoda Palace. Like Chikanobu's contemporary, Yoshitoshi, his print themes concentrate on the history and traditional values of old Japan. These series must be seen against the background of an era when Japan was striving to adopt Western technology and civilization without any criticism. The Japanese society then regarded their own traditional and culture as something of low value that had to be replaced by Western values as fast as possible. Condition: Trimmed in to image on left panel. Light toning to sheets. |
| Framing | mounted |
| Price | £500.00 |
| Stock ID | 53112 |