Children's fireworks — Senko Hanabi
- Date:
- 1896
- Medium:
- Woodblock print
- Source:
- Japanese Art Open Database
Key value factors: As self-carved and self-printed works, sosaku-hanga value is tied to the artist's reputation and edition size. Larger formats, earlier editions, and historically significant works command the highest prices.
"Children's Fireworks — Senko Hanabi" (1896) depicts children playing with sparkler fireworks — the delicate senko hanabi (incense stick fireworks) that produced a small, fragile shower of sparks rather than the explosive bursts of larger fireworks. These miniature fireworks were traditional summer children's entertainments, their tiny fragile sparks a metaphor for the transience of beauty that has made them one of Japan's most beloved seasonal symbols. Shuntei renders the children gathered around the sparkler with the fascinated attention the small shower of light commanded.
Children's fireworks — Senko Hanabi was created by Miyagawa Shuntei (宮川春汀) in 1896.
Children's fireworks — Senko Hanabi depicts children, daily life, and summer.
