Comments - Fantastic image of an elephant imported to Japan from Central India in 1863, an exotic curiosity. The lifts its trunk to take a bundle of straw from the young boy perched on a rug atop the animal's back. The elephant's large rounded body and limbs are outlined in a lighter gray, adding a sense of bulk and volume, with tiny hairs are carefully outlined on the head and inside the ear. A foreign woman watches with interest at left, wearing a yellow cape over a blue blouse tucked into a ruffled red skirt, with a blue scarf wrapped around her hair and neck and topped with a hat. A marvelous and rare Yokohama-e design combining a portrait of a foreigner with an exotic foreign animal.

Artist - Yoshitoyo (1830 - 1866)

Image Size - 14 1/4" x 9 3/4" + margins as shown

Condition - This print with excellent detail as shown. Horizontal folds. A few small losses at edges, a few holes, repaired. Toning, soiling, and creasing, staining. Please see photos for details.