Toyohara (Yôshû) Chikanobu (1838-1912)
A Portrait of a beauty of the Meireki era (1655-1658) holding a letter in her hand. In the trompe-l'œil-like "old" picture above a group of four men and women playing the Kemari ball game.
Title: Meireki no koro (The Meireki era)
Series: Jidai kagami (A mirror of the ages)
Signature: Yôshû Chikanobu
Seal: Yôshû
Publisher: Matsuki Heikichi, Tokyo
Date: Meiji 30 (1897)
Size: Vertical Ôban, 37 x 24.8 cm (overall size)
Excellent impression and colours, with lustre printing, relief printing and metal pigments. Wide-margins. Verso side margins backed with narrow paper stripes. Paper minimally age-toned, one faint stain. Overall very nice condition.
For this series compare Bruce A. Coats, Chikanobu. Modernity and Nostalgia in Japanese Prints. Leiden 2006, pp. 186 ff. Cf. also the website of the Mizuta Museum of Art of Josai University, illustrating and explaining the complete series.
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