Chikanobu | Goldfish, Noble ladies of Tokugawa era
楊洲周延 Toyohara Chikanobu (1838–1912)
徳川时代贵妇人之图 金鱼
Goldfish, from the series of Noble ladies of Tokugawa era
1897
木版画 | 三联续绘-纵绘大判 | 36cm x 25cm x 3
Woodblock-print | Triptych-Oban-tate-e | 36cm x 25cm x 3
品相完好；轻微污渍
Fine condition; mild soiling
$1,500
金鱼，原产于中国，是一类由野生鲫鱼经人工驯养培育而来的观赏鱼类，至早在室町时代（1336-1573）即引入日本，但直到江户时代才开始被大量繁殖饲养，游入了千家万户的鱼缸与水盆中。
在德川时代（江户时代）初期，金鱼还是一种特权阶级与富贵之家才能负担得起的高阶玩物，正如本作所示。衣香鬓影，轻罗小扇，优雅雍容的贵妇人或坐或立，正观赏着框架型水族箱中数尾翩然游弋于金鱼藻间的金鱼。如此大体量的透明玻璃制水族箱显然是西方进口的奢侈物件，在当时的高昂造价绝令人咋舌，远非普通人家中使用的小型圆形鱼缸或水钵可比。侧面观之，鱼儿们“皆若空游无所依”，一边与身后的巨大山水盆栽遥相呼应，一边从江户游向了明治，穿越百年时光长河，直到如今。
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Toyohara Chikanobu (1838–1912)
Toyohara Chikanobu was born in 1838 in Edo and, obviously possessing talent, studied the Kanō school of painting. But his love was Ukiyoe. He studied with Kuniyoshi and, upon the master’s death, with Kunichika.
A samurai like his father, Chikanobu fought on the side of the Shogan against the Emperor Meiji as Japan moved unsteadily towards modernity, and was arrested when the Emperor’s forces triumphed. But by the 1880s he was free to pursue his art.
His work ranged from Japanese mythology to battles to women's fashions. A great many were triptychs, and some were quite garish in their choice of colors, as was the style in the waning days of Ukiyoe. His designs illustrating women’s fashion were especially interesting because they depicted the radical shift from traditional to Western clothing during the Meiji restoration and the changes in coiffures and make-up styles that accompanied them. When he drew women in traditional dress, it was a nod to the recent past, with a healthy dose of nostalgia. He died in 1912.