Kiyochika: Manufacturing Pots and Kettles in Kawaguchi Kiyochika (Sold)

Artist: Kobayashi Kiyochika
Title: Manufacturing Pots and Kettles in Kawaguchi
Date: 1879

As Henry Smith II notes “...we know from Kiyochika’s sketchbook that he actually visited the foundry to make the sketch on which this view is modeled. It is unique, not only within the oeuvre of Kiyochika but within all of early Meiji art: nowhere else can one find such a direct and dramatic expression of men at work.” (Kiyochika: Artist of Meiji Japan, 1988). A group of men draw molten iron from the furnace, their faces lit by the glow of the blazing metal. Molds are made ready to the right, with workers tending to them as well. To the left are the eerie shadows of men pumping the bellows. A man holding a large staff seems to be supervising the operation, standing at left. A rare and desirable design.

Condition: Very good impression, color and condition. Repaired wormage in margins.
Dimensions: ôban horizontal
Publisher: Fukuda Kumajirô
Literature: Pictured in Kiyochika: Artist of Meiji Japan, 1988, page 47, figure 43.
Signature: Kobayashi Kiyochika hitsu

SKU: KYC222