Posted by Dick Illing on November 03, 2002 at 09:19:30:
In Reply to: Toyohara Kunichika posted by Dmitry Goldgaber on November 03, 2002 at 06:41:31:
There is a print with a similar clock illustrated in Amy Newland's monograph on Kunichika 'Time past and present, Images of a forgotten master'[Hotei Publishing 1999] p.107. This is said to come from a series Mitate juniji no uchi, 'The twelve hours parodied' of 1874. Each print links a kabuki role with one of the twelve zodiacal animals associated with the daily cycle. The misrepresentation of the numerals is attributed solely to lack of understanding of Roman numbers.