A caricature of commodity prices, triptych, 1867
- Medium:
- Woodblock print
- Format:
- Oban triptych
- Source:
- harashobo
Description
A satirical triptych from 1867 commenting on the runaway inflation of commodity prices that plagued Japan's final Tokugawa years as Western trade disrupted traditional markets and the country's economy lurched toward crisis. Kyosai was among the sharpest social commentators of his era, and his caricatures of economic grievance spoke directly to ordinary people struggling with the cost of daily necessities. The triptych format allowed him to stage a small theater of complaint, with figures representing consumers, merchants, and the market itself in comic collision.
More Prints by Kawanabe Kyosai
Tenpôzan in Osaka: Viewing Children's Sumo (Naniwa Tenpôzan kodomo sumô shôran), from the series Scenes of Famous Places along the Tôkaidô Road (Tôkaidô meisho fûkei), also known as the Processional Tôkaidô (Gyôretsu Tôkaidô), here called Tôkaidô
1863
Woodblock print
Kyosai, Royal Academy, London, FREE DOMESTIC SHIPPING
2022
Original Museum Lithographic Exhibition Poster
from the series One Hundred Pictures by Kyôsai (Kyôsai hyakuzu)
Woodblock print
Gontazaka, from the series Scenes of Famous Places along the Tôkaidô Road (Tôkaidô meisho fûkei), also known as the Processional Tôkaidô (Gyôretsu Tôkaidô), here called Tôkaidô meisho no uchi
Woodblock print
More Figures Prints
Frequently Asked Questions
A caricature of commodity prices, triptych, 1867 was created by Kawanabe Kyosai (河鍋暁斎).
A caricature of commodity prices, triptych, 1867 depicts figures, snow scenes, and market scenes.