Series; Juxtaposed Pictures of Twenty-four Paragons of Filial Piety
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. 13, Huang Xiang: He Fanned the Pillow and Warmed the Sheets, 1890 - Lovely image of a beauty preparing to retire for the night. She smiles as she lifts the mosquito netting over the bed, waving a fan to cool the air inside. She wears a delicately embossed blue and white kimono tied over a red under robe, tied with a red tie-dyed obi. The lamp at left casts a shaft of softly glowing light up against the darkness of the room, a tobacco set on the floor nearby and a black lacquer screen with fine reed blind inserts at right. The inset above shows the young boy Huang Xiang (Koko in Japanese), whose mother died when he was very young. He devoted himself to his father, fanning his pillow in summer to cool it, and wrapping his father's blanket around himself in winter to warm it with his own body heat. Here, he cheerfully waves a fan above his father's bed, looking out at the evening sky beyond. A handsome design with fine bokashi shading, and burnishing on the frame of the black lacquer screen.
Artist - Chikanobu (1838 - 1912)
Image Size - 13 3/4" x 9 1/4"
Condition - This print with excellent color and detail as shown. Backed with paper. Some faint soiling. A couple faint stains. Good overall.
