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Toyohara CHIKANOBU (1838 - 1912)

Views of the Twelve Months of the Year - A lady playing the 'koto' on a verandah at full moon -

An almost finished preparatory drawing (shita-e), in sumi (black ink) on thin paper, for a woodblock print triptych. Signed:                 Yoshu Date:                     late 19th c. Paper size:            oban triptych ( c. 72 x 36 cms / 28.4" x 14.2") Condition: Very good. The three sheets are glued together Several pentimenti with small changes or corrections to the design.  - Such signed and almost finished shita-e are very RARE. - ref. no.: # S-1193 - SOLD -

This alsmost finished drawing not only is signed by Chikanobu, but already carries the envisaged series title: Juni gatsu no zu ('Views of the twelve months'), and ".... gatsu", leaving it open which month this design was supposed to represent. It clearly was intended for a series of twelve triptychs showing domestic scenes throughout the year, a kind of work Chikanobu is renowned for. What is still missing in the drawing are: title and sub-title cartouches, the artist's complete signature (as, e.g.: "Yoshu Chikanobu"), and seal.

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