Meiji Artist: Humorous Procession of Shadow Pictures (Sold)

A humorous take on the Japanese fondness for shadow pictures. We see rows of four different processions against a deep red background, with some descriptions near the figures. The top row seems to be people in a downpour; the second row are folks taking part in a night festival procession; the third row are firemen, and the last row includes a rickshaw with a gesticulating passenger who wears a tophat. The background of Nishiki kage-e: By the end of the Edo Period, imported articles from Holland were adopted into the Japanese way such as the “Magic Lantern”, an apparatus for slide show with moving figures. Around 1803 when the Magic Lantern was imported, it was not possible to find neither flat metal nor glass in Japan; therefore,  the apparatus out of metal was reconstructed by Japanese into a wooden case, called “furo”, and glass slides into paper with painted figures and settings were used. This is the beginning of the slide show use of story telling and drama in Edo. This slide show was called Utsushi-e in Edo and Nishiki kage-e in Kansai Area, where the Ómi Province  is situated. As far as Ukiyo-e, these kind of pictures were widely spread as a category of asobi-e (pictures of playing). The title at top is unread.