Posted by Dan (24.58.4.235) on January 14, 2006 at 00:21:57:
In Reply to: Yoshitsuya - comical calender print. posted by Guy Pepermans on January 13, 2006 at 21:50:24:
Hi Guy,
I'm working on figuring out this print, which is of a fascinating type.
A few immediate thoughts:
The print is of a genre called "uke-e" and was intended to bring good fortune (fuku) to the recipient.
The title after the date is "Mokusei no hito uke ni iri" The figure is writing "Mokusei" (literally "wood type") in calligraphy. This refers to a Chinese system of classifying human types according to the five elements. One could also be the fire type, the water type, earth type or metal type. This is an uke print for the wood type.
The playful image is similar to Kuniyoshi's asobi-e. Note that there is a flute for an eyebrow and a blowfish for an eye, while the head is shaped out of a string tassel. The Japanese words fue, fugu and fusa, refering to each item respectively (as well as fuku, blow) all figure in the inscription above.
The writing in the box is arcane to me at the moment. "One year old, fifty-four, two years old, sixty-one, nine years old, sixty-two, ten years old, sixty-nine," etc., right up to "fifty three hundred years old." Curious!
I suspect this has to do with physiognomy, rather than being a calendar.
But dinnertime now, so more later!