Woodblock Print Item Number: 795/6 from the MOA: University of British Columbia

Description

Man in grey kimono holding a fan downward with his right hand. The floor is blue-green. The room at the back is yellow with a red cabinet and a candelabra. The side panel to the left side has white phoenixes ? and similar grey shapes. In the lower right corner, there are five seals, three of which are black circles, one of which is a vertically rectangular, black seal, and the other one of which is a vertically rectangular, red and yellow seal. The print is vertically rectangular.

Narrative

The print is signed Toyokuni ga (豊國画). From around 1850 on, almost all his prints have the signature enclosed in a Toshidama waku (年玉枠) or cartouche. By around 1860 most prints were only signed with Toyokuni ga (豊國画) in these cartouches (mostly red but sometimes yellow).