Two White Rabbits Under a Full Moon

Date:: c. 1928–1930
Medium:: Woodblock print, ink and color on paper with embossing
Format:: Oban
Dimensions:: 36.2 × 24 cm
Publisher:: Watanabe Shozaburo
Edition:: Published by Watanabe Shozaburo
Source:: Minneapolis Institute of Art

Typical Price

Koson's vast output of ~450 designs spans birds, flowers, fish, insects, and occasional landscapes. While his large production keeps most prints accessible, early Kokkeido-period impressions with muted, elegant Meiji-era coloring are distinctly more sought after than the brighter later Watanabe editions.

Later printings: $100–$500
Good lifetime editions: $500–$2,500
Rare subjects or exceptional impressions: $2,500–$8,000

Description

Two white rabbits crouch beneath a full moon — the lunar rabbits of East Asian mythology, the creatures believed to inhabit the moon and pound medicinal herbs with a mortar and pestle. Produced around 1928–1930 with embossing adding texture to the rabbits' fur and the moon's surface, this print engages one of East Asian culture's most beloved folk images. Koson's rabbits are simultaneously naturalistic — the animals rendered with anatomical care — and mythological, their placement under the full moon invoking the tradition that connects rabbit and moon across centuries of East Asian art.