Chikanobu's Twenty-four Paragons of Filial Piety - The Chinese scholar Guo Jujing wrote the book "The Twenty-four Paragons of Filial Devotion" during the Yuan Dynasty. Inspired by the loss of his own parents, he scoured history for examples of the most respectful and devoted children. Alluding to the famous stories of the twenty-four children and their extraordinary devotion to their parents and relatives, Chikanobu's series juxtaposes the paragon in the upper panel with a more modern equivalent below. The artist plays off the old stories, offering serious parallels as well as lighthearted and humorous contrasts in the modern versions.

No. 10, Tanzi: He Fed His Parent's Doe's Milk - Amusing image of a beauty discovering her small boy playing under a fur robe, He has knocked a book and several brushes off a low table next to him, but she doesn't seem to mind. The illustration above shows the boy Tanzi (Enshi in Japanese), whose parents were elderly and had eye problems. The doctor suggested doe's milk to treat them, so Tanzi dressed in a deerskin so he could move among the herd and get milk for them. Here, a hunter mistakes him for a real deer, so he quickly shouts and waves his hand to avoid being shot. Lovely color and detail in this handsome scene.

Artist - Chikanobu (1838 - 1912)

Image Size - 13 1/4" x 8 3/4" + margins as shown

Condition - With excellent color and detail. Light spotting in subject with faint soiling and rubbing along edges. Please see photos for details. Nice overall.