Toyohara Chikanobu - quality woodblock

Title:    Firefly Hunting — Hotaru-gari

Artist:   Yoshu Chikanobu (esteemed ukiyo-e master 1838 – 1912)

Work:    Pastimes of Ladies of the Chiyoda Palace – “Catching Fireflies” 1896.

36cm x 24cm each image- quality hardwood frame.

Sale due to downsizing.

*Chikanobu Toyohara (also known as Chikanobu Yoshu) was a leading woodblock print artist of the Meiji Period. Born in Niigata prefecture as Naoyoshi Hashimoto, Chikanobu began his life as the son of samurai in the service of the Sakakibara clan. During the Meiji Restoration, he joined the shogitai, an elite samurai brigade in direct support of the waning Tokugawa Shogunate and fought bravely in the Battle of Ueno in 1868. Though captured in the fray, he was released unharmed. As the Shogunate fell, Chikanobu focused on a career in art.