Comments - This portrait represents a patriarch of the Ainu, an indigenous people of Japan. Jacoulet painted the sitter and his wife from life during a trip to Hokkaido. In his catalog of Jacoulet, Richard Miles states "When translated from watercolor to woodblocks, they took on a dignified luminescence that makes them worthy of comparison with the best of Sharaku." The elder sits proudly erect, looking ahead with a solemn expression, his long beard flowing over his chest. The beard, hair, and eyebrows are beautifully detailed with gauffrage or embossing. He wears a boldly patterned black and white robe with delicate red-orange lines within the white areas. The noble figure is set off by a shimmering slate gray mica background. A terrific, sensitive image, and a companion piece to Vielle Ainu.

French title - Viel Aino. Chikabumi. Hokkaido. Japon
English title - Old Ainu. Chikabumi. Hokkaido. Japan
Date - October 28, 1950
Signed - Pencil signed Paul Jacoulet in subject at center right, with red artist's "Owl" seal
Carver - Maeda
Printers - Honda, Uchikawa, Fujii
Edition - 350, fewer than 250 impressions