Yoshitora: A Prussian Couple Yokohama-e (SOLD)

Artist: Utagawa Yoshitora (active ca. 1850-1880)
Title: A Prussian Couple (Poroshiajin)

Series: People of Foreign Countries 外国人物盡
Date: 1860, 12th month

Interesting depiction of a Prussian Couple (Poroshiajin). Their dress is a fanciful mishmash, and the chiaroscuro shadow on the lip of the woman at right at first glance reads as a mustache. She holds a western-style folding umbrella and wears a skirt over trousers that is topped with an unusually patterned long jacket with a ruffled neck. The man has an India-like patterned cloth tied diagonally about his torso and holds a slain duck in his hand. Their hair is blue and their skin is shades of grey and blue-grey. The foreigners were known for their consumption of different kinds of animal meat, which was in contrast to the Japanese diet of mostly vegetables and fish.  Behind them their surroundings are depicted in an unusual style that seems to imitate copperplate etching; perhaps it is their home country. Beginning in 1860, Yokohama-e reflect the fascination with the strange customs and manners of the foreigners that were newly arrived in Yokohama. This work has mica on the dark area of the road.

Condition: Excellent impression and color. Very good condition. Unbacked.
Dimensions: ôban 34.7 x 24 cm
Signature: Yoshitora ga

Publisher:  Wakasa-ya Yoichirô 芝若與

SKU: YST025