| Method | Woodblock (nishiki-e) |
| Artist | Toyohara Chikanobu (1838-1912) |
| Published | 1895 |
| Dimensions | Ôban tate-e triptych [Each sheet ~15.6 x 10.7 inches] |
| Notes |
Series: Chiyoda no Ooku: The Chiyoda Inner Palace Signed: Yoshu Chikanobu Seals: Artist's seal Publisher: Fukuda Hatsujiro No. 38 in the series Chiyoda no Ooku: The Chiyoda Inner Palace depicting a group of ladies cleaning a house. The scene shows a group of court ladies in the ritualistic cleaning event called osouji, normally done at the end of the year to act as a type of spiritual purification. Two ladies in the foreground are wearing beautifully patterned kimonos, whilst a group of other ladies is seen in the background on the left humorously trying to get rid of a samurai who is interrupting their cleaning. 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. Favorite 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: Some minor surface marks to left sheet. |
| Framing | mounted |
| Price | £475.00 |
| Stock ID | 52416 |