LITTLE GIRLS SINGING (Miyagawa Shuntei)

N.1 ukiyo-e woodblock print
Year: 1896
Condition: very good
Size: 37 x 24,5 cm

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Description

Delicate representation of four little girls gathered under a cherry tree in bloom to sing shoka (唱歌), that is the songs for children that were taught in elementary schools all over the country and which were composed with a new Western style, which used the European musical scale reintroduced in Japan following the Meiji Restoration (明治維新).

This fine woodblock print, entitled precisely “Shoka” (唱歌), is taken from the series “Children at Play” (こども遊) by Miyagawa Shuntei (宮川春汀), the famous artist known in particular for his scenes of daily life, that offer a charming glimpse into the life in the Meiji period (明治時代).

The work, produced in March 1896 by the publisher Matsuki Heikichi (松木平吉), owner of Daikokuya (大黒屋), despite the right signs of aging and a slight sign of folding in the lower right part of the sheet, is in very good general condition.