Stone Lanterns

Medium:: Woodblock print
Format:: Oban
Publisher:: Unsodo
Source:: Ukiyo-e.org (via Artelino)

Typical Price

Stone lanterns are a recurring motif in Japanese woodblock prints, and Asano's version brings his distinctively bold color treatment to this traditional subject. Likely set within a Kyoto temple or shrine compound, this composition typically sells for $150-$500. The interplay of weathered stone and surrounding vegetation shows Asano's sensitivity to texture.

Description

Stone lanterns — toro — line the approaches to major Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples, their rows creating a processional experience that intensifies the sense of approaching sacred space. Asano's rendering of this subject would have emphasized the architectural rhythm of repeated lantern forms along a path or avenue, the geometric repetition of the stone structures creating a pattern that was simultaneously decorative and spiritually directional. The stone lantern's form — combining base, shaft, fire chamber, and cap in a miniature architectural program — provided him with a subject of considerable formal interest.