Woman with a Firefly Cage
- Date:
- designed: 1920 (Taishō 9), July, printed: c. 1950 (Shōwa 25)
- Medium:
- Woodblock print; ink on paper
- Format:
- Oban
- Dimensions:
- 46.1 × 29.2 cm
- Publisher:
- Watanabe Shozaburo
- Edition:
- Published by Watanabe Shozaburo
- Source:
- Harvard Art Museums
Description
A woman with a firefly cage — "hotaru kago" — designed in July 1920 and printed circa 1950, one of Goyo's summer bijin compositions pairing feminine beauty with the luminous insects that made Japanese summer evenings magical. The firefly cage (a delicate wire or bamboo construction holding live fireflies) was both a summer toy and an aesthetic object, its inhabitants' pulsing light making it a miniature lantern of living origin. Goyo's bijin holding the cage has the quality of composed summer pleasure, the warmth of the season rendered through posture and accessory rather than through explicit seasonal imagery.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Woman with a Firefly Cage was created by Hashiguchi Goyo (橋口五葉) in designed: 1920 (Taishō 9), July, printed: c. 1950 (Shōwa 25).
Woman with a Firefly Cage was published by Watanabe Shozaburo (designed: 1920 (Taishō 9), July, printed: c. 1950 (Shōwa 25)).
Woman with a Firefly Cage depicts bijin-ga and insects.
Woman with a Firefly Cage measures 46.1 × 29.2 cm (Oban format).