Fuzoku Sanjuni-so: Yuho ga Shitaso, Meiji-nenkan Saikun no Fuzoku [Thirty-two Aspects of Customs and Manners: A Wife of a Nobleman of the Meiji Period, Looking Like She Wants to Go for a Stroll]

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Fūzoku Sanjūni-sō: Yūho ga Shitasō, Meiji-nenkan Saikun no Fūzoku [Thirty-two Aspects of Customs and Manners: A Wife of a Nobleman of the Meiji Period, Looking Like She Wants to Go for a Stroll]

[Tsukioka], Yoshitoshi [illustrated by].

Nihonbashi, [Tōkyō]: Tsunajima Kamekichi, Meiji 21 [1888] [first edition, later state].

A finely woodblock-printed portrait by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1839-1892) depicting a Meiji-period woman in Western dress. With her styled hair, fashionable accessories, and European-style clothing, she reflects the new forms of dress and appearance associated with the early Meiji era. The design is the final sheet in Yoshitoshi’s Fūzoku Sanjūni-sō (Thirty-two Aspects of Customs and Manners) series, comprising thirty-two prints (and an index sheet) portraying women of different ages, occupations, and social backgrounds from the late Edo period through the Meiji era. The series focuses on the varied expressions and moods of women, its title referring to the Buddhist concept of the sanjūni-sō, the thirty-two physical characteristics traditionally attributed to the Buddha. The colour pigments used indicate this example is from a later printing; nevertheless, techniques such as karazuri (blind embossing) and fine kewari block-cutting are still present. As with the other prints in the series, the title ends with the suffix -sō (“appears to” or “seems to”), indicating an observed state or emotion rather than a direct statement. The title of this design, Yūho ga Shitasō, is often translated as "Preparing to Take a Stroll", though a more literal reading — "Looks as Though She Wishes to Go for a Stroll" — better preserves the sense that Yoshitoshi is observing and interpreting his subject. As the only print in the series to depict a woman in Western clothing, it reflects the cultural shifts and growing Western influence of the Meiji period.

One ōban leaf, colour woodblock-printed on one side, complete. Minor foxing and small marks. Metallic pigment to extremities. Trimmed and backed on washi. 36.5 x 23.5 cm.

Fuzoku Sanjuni-so: Yuho ga Shitaso, Meiji-nenkan Saikun no Fuzoku [Thirty-two Aspects of Customs and Manners: A Wife of a Nobleman of the Meiji Period, Looking Like She Wants to Go for a Stroll]
Price: $1,500.00 (USD)