Description
Fascinating woodblock print of vertical large oban (大判) format taken from the series “Twenty-Four Hours at Shinbashi and Yanagibashi” (新柳二十四時) by the famous artist Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (月岡芳年). The work is entitled “Two in the Afternoon” (午後二時) and portrays a geisha (芸者) in the act of undressing.
Yoshitoshi creates a clever contrast between the indifference of the cat, which is dozing behind the woman, and the astonished expression of the dragon that decorates the vase at the back of the scene.
The print on Japanese washi paper (和紙), produced in 1880 by the publisher Nakamura Mitsu (中村美津) and by the carver Watanabe Yataro (渡辺弥太郎), despite the right signs of aging and in particular fold marks, is in overall good condition.
