Kiyochika: Skeleton Policeman Ordering Skeleton Woman to Cover Up from Kiyochika Punch

Artist: Kobayashi Kiyochika (1847-1915)
Title: Tennoji Temple in Yanaka, Tokyo 東京谷中天王寺

Series: Kiyochika Punch 清親放痴 (Kiyochika ponchi) Date: Ca. 1881

This series marks a turning point in Kiyochika’s career; he previously focused on landscapes, and beginning in 1881 his output was primarily comic and historical subjects. “Kiyochika ponchi” was derived from the satirical journal “Japan Punch”, which was modeled on the original English “Punch”. “Japan Punch” was founded by Charles Wirgman in 1862 in Yokohama; he was a correspondent for the The Illustrated London News. Henry Smith only counted eleven prints in this series; we can imagine that the Japanese authorities were not thrilled by any material that might have been considered subversive or critical of the government. (The Japanese authorities had controlled the subject matter of woodblock prints for most of the Edo period, so one doubts that they would stop considering them worthy of interest in the Meiji period.)

Here Kiyochika has taken aim at the subject of public nudity, something that the Meiji authorities were trying to control due to the complaints of (prudish) western visitors, probably led by Christian missionaries. Kiyochika has placed us in the graveyard of Tennoji Temple, his satire obvious; even skeletons were ordered to cover up. We see a skeleton policeman pointing angrily at the crouching female skeleton, who has stripped down to her underskirt to cool off on a summer evening. She holds a fan and her skeleton-dog is next to her, looking up at the policeman. Her skeleton-ghosts companion is visibly agitated, putting up her hands, although she is wearing her full kimono. Kiyochika always places items that relate to his story behind the banner at top; we see what might be Buddhist funerary implements. A rather rarely seen design, and probably the best one in the series.

Condition: Excellent impression and color; very good condition. Lightly backed.

Literature: See  “Kiyochika: Artist of Meiji Japan” by Henry D. Smith II, pages 58, number 63.

Dimensions: ôban (35.8 x 23.7 cm)  Publisher: Kobayashi Tetsujirô
Signature: Kobayashi Kiyochika (in margin)

SKU: KYC488