Woman with fan and cricket cage
- Date:
- 1920
- Medium:
- Woodblock print
- Format:
- Oban
- Publisher:
- Watanabe Shozaburo
Goyo completed only 14 woodblock print designs before his death in 1921, making every genuine impression extraordinarily rare. His bijin-ga are among the most refined of the entire shin-hanga movement. "Woman at the Bath" achieved $40,075 at Bonhams New York in 2020; Sotheby's estimates of $15,000–$25,000 are typical for top examples.
A woman with a fan and a cricket cage — a summer composition pairing two conventional accessories of the Japanese warm season, the fan for cooling and the cricket cage for its musical occupant. Crickets were prized in Japan for their song, and the practice of keeping pet crickets in small cages extended back through centuries of Japanese and Chinese aesthetic practice. Goyo's bijin with fan and cricket cage participates in this tradition of summer sensory pleasure: the sound of the cricket, the coolness of the fan's breeze, and the warmth of the summer setting all present in a single composed image.
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Woman with fan and cricket cage was created by Hashiguchi Goyo (橋口五葉) in 1920.
Woman with fan and cricket cage was published by Watanabe Shozaburo (1920).
Woman with fan and cricket cage depicts bijin-ga and insects.
