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「千代寿」 「農」「豊年」 by Kawanabe Kyosai — Japanese Woodblock print

「千代寿」 「農」「豊年」

by Kawanabe Kyosai

Medium:
Woodblock print
Image courtesy of
Metropolitan Museum of Art

Description

The agricultural sheet (農, nō) from Chiyo Kotobuki is inscribed 'Hōnen,' meaning an abundant harvest — one of the most traditional auspicious wishes in Japanese visual culture, long associated with the fertility prayers of Shinto and the agrarian rhythms of rice cultivation. Farmers occupied the second rank in the Confucian social hierarchy, nominally above artisans and merchants, though their practical circumstances were often difficult. Kyosai's farmer figure would conventionally appear in a landscape context, possibly with harvest implements or autumn rice imagery, rendered in the bold but economical style appropriate to woodblock printing for a broad urban audience.

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Frequently Asked Questions

「千代寿」 「農」「豊年」 was created by Kawanabe Kyosai (河鍋暁斎).