Chikanobu: Youfuku; Two women and a girl in Western Dress

Artist: Yōshū Chikanobu (1838-1912)
Title: Yôfuku, “Western Dress”. Series: Fuku Zukushi. “Customs of the East: A Collection of Fuku Words”
Date: 1889

Yôfuku, “Western Dress”. Every inch of this print reflects western style and surroundings, perhaps save for the cherry tree glimpsed outside. A woman wearing an enormous hat confection leans over the back of a red upholstered chair; she wears what must be the latest imported fashions, including a tight-fitting purple bodice cascading over a checkered skirt and trimmed with fringe. The young woman who is seated also wears a western dress, and she holds the hand of a young girl who also sports western fashions, including a straw hat, striped stockings and leather boots. The girl’s outfit looks like it has been lifted from a fashion magazine, as it does not quite fit the proportion of the child, and she seems to be balanced on tiptoe. The girl has a fluffy white dog on a leash. Their tea service is western style, and the patterned curtains and elaborate rug also reflect western furnishings, as does the wrought-iron balcony railing. 

This amusing series elaborates on words containing the sound “Fuku”; here we have You Huku, which is also written in Romaji.  Fuku (huku) also means blessings, or good fortune. Perhaps the setting is a western-style tearoom, as we seem to be overlooking a formal garden.

Condition: Very good impression, color and condition. Minor smudges bottom margin.  Dimensions: ôban (35.5 x 24 cm)
Publisher: Takegawa Unokichi
Signature: Yôshû Chikanobu-hitsu with his toshidama seal in red

SKU: CHK077