Japan
1860
Color woodcut on rice paper
Provenance: London trade
From the series Gaikoku jinbutsu zuga (People from Foreign Lands)
Utagawa Yoshitora was a prolific woodblock print designer active in Edo and Tokyo from the 1850s through the 1880s, a student of Utagawa Kuniyoshi and one of the most imaginative interpreters of the Western figures that began appearing in Japan following the opening of the treaty ports. His series Gaikoku jinbutsu zuga, produced in 1860, depicted men and women from foreign nations in their national dress, combining careful observation with the visual conventions of the ukiyo-e tradition. This print depicts an English couple, the man in a top hat and dark coat and the woman in the full crinoline silhouette fashionable in Europe at mid-century, sharing an umbrella.
The yokohama-e genre to which this print belongs emerged directly from the sudden presence of foreign traders and diplomats in the newly opened port of Yokohama, feeding widespread public curiosity about the appearance and customs of Westerners. Yoshitora's treatment is characteristically lively, with strong color and confident draftsmanship carrying the composition. The London trade provenance is consistent with the international movement of Meiji-era woodblock prints through specialist dealers from the late nineteenth century onward.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
Japan
1860
Color woodcut on rice paper
Provenance: London trade
From the series Gaikoku jinbutsu zuga (People from Foreign Lands)
Utagawa Yoshitora was a prolific woodblock print designer active in Edo and Tokyo from the 1850s through the 1880s, a student of Utagawa Kuniyoshi and one of the most imaginative interpreters of the Western figures that began appearing in Japan following the opening of the treaty ports. His series Gaikoku jinbutsu zuga, produced in 1860, depicted men and women from foreign nations in their national dress, combining careful observation with the visual conventions of the ukiyo-e tradition. This print depicts an English couple, the man in a top hat and dark coat and the woman in the full crinoline silhouette fashionable in Europe at mid-century, sharing an umbrella.
The yokohama-e genre to which this print belongs emerged directly from the sudden presence of foreign traders and diplomats in the newly opened port of Yokohama, feeding widespread public curiosity about the appearance and customs of Westerners. Yoshitora's treatment is characteristically lively, with strong color and confident draftsmanship carrying the composition. The London trade provenance is consistent with the international movement of Meiji-era woodblock prints through specialist dealers from the late nineteenth century onward.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
