Calligraphy and Pictures for the Fifty-three Stations - Terrific design from a Tokaido Road series pairing images with verses in calligraphy for the different stations. Different artists contributed designs, including Yoshitora and Kunisada II. The large pictures include landscapes, figures from history and legend, and scenes from kabuki plays and folktales. Several prints feature comic illustrations, including the adventures and mishaps of Kita and Yaji, the bumbling travelers from the popular novel "Shank's Mare." Others include travelers in Western attire or distinctly modern Meiji subjects. These imaginative prints are beautifully detailed with attractive color and fine line work, and offer an interesting Meiji era take on the classic Tokaido subject. A great choice for collectors interested in life along the Tokaido Road.

Yoshiwara in Suruga Province: The Old Tale of the Bamboo Cutter - Interesting scene from the "Tale of the Bamboo Cutter," a story about an elderly bamboo cutter who discovered a glowing golden baby inside a stalk of bamboo one day. He took the child home, and he and his wife raised the girl, naming her Nayotake no Kaguya-hime (Shining Princess of the Young Bamboo). Kaguya became a lovely young woman with many suitors, but she contrived impossible tasks for them to complete in order to marry her, and none succeeded. One summer, the beauty became sad whenever she saw the full moon, eventually explaining to her adoptive parents that she was actually the Princess of the Moon, and she needed to return to her own home, which she did. Here, the bamboo cutter reacts with surprise as he sees the infant wrapped in a patterned robe, leaning forward with his hands out before him. A clump of bamboo frames the scene at left, and the landscape above shows the snow-capped peak of Mt. Fuji wreathed in clouds above pine trees. Nicely detailed with fine cloth embossing in the background of the lower image. A charming depiction of this ancient folktale.

Artist - Meiji era artist (not read)

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

Condition - This print with excellent color and detail as shown. Wormholes, some prints have losses at edges, repaired. Slight toning, soiling, and creasing. Some prints have wrinkling. Please see photos for details.