A Cauldron on a Moonlit Night (Tsukiyo no kama), from the series "One Hundred Aspects of the Moon (Tsuki hyakushi)"

Series:: One Hundred Aspects of the Moon (print 20 of 100)
Date:: 1886
Medium:: Color woodblock print; oban
Format:: Oban
Source:: Art Institute of Chicago

Typical Price

Scarce or exceptional One Hundred Aspects of the Moon design: $2,000–$10,000
Fine impression of popular moon design: $800–$2,500
Common moon design, good condition: $300–$800

Description

"A Cauldron on a Moonlit Night" (Tsukiyo no kama, 1886) is an early entry in Yoshitoshi's masterwork series "One Hundred Aspects of the Moon." A mysterious figure tends an iron cauldron by moonlight, the scene suggesting the alchemical or supernatural—possibly referencing the tanuki (raccoon dog) trickster spirits known for shape-shifting transformations. The moon overhead bathes the scene in cold light, and the combination of domestic object and nocturnal mystery typifies the series' approach: using the moon as a lens through which to examine legend, history, and human psychology.

More Prints by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi

Shunkan Watching Enviously from Kikai Island as Yasuyori Returns to the Capitol after Being Unexpectedly Pardoned (Shunkan sozu Kikaigashima ni oite tamatama Yasuyori no shamen senbo kito no zu)

Looking as if She Wants to Go for a Walk: The Fashion of a Married Woman of the Meiji Era (Yūho ga shitasō, Meiji nenkan saikun no fūzoku), from the series Thirty-two Appearances of Fashion (Fūzoku sanjūni sō)

Slovenly (Shidaranasaso), from the series "Thirty-two Aspects of Women (Fuzoku sanjuniso)"

1888

Color woodblock print; oban

Four PM, from the series "Twenty-Four Hours in Shinbashi and Yanagibashi"

n.d.

Color woodblock print

More Moonlight Prints

Mount Fuji on a Moonlit Night, Kawai Bridge (Tsukiyo no Fuji [Kawaibashi]), from the series "Selection of Views of the Tokaido (Tokaido fukei senshu)"

1947

Color woodblock print; oban

Evening Moon at Nakanoshima, Sapporo (Sapporo Nakanoshima no yuzuki), from the series "Collection of Views of Japan, Eastern Japan Edition (Nihon fukei shu higashi Nihon hen)"

March 1933

Color woodblock print; oban

Matsushima in Moonlight (Tsuki no Matsushima)

1919

Color woodblock print

Kiyozumi Garden in Moonlight

January 1938

Woodblock print, ink and color on paper

Frequently Asked Questions

A Cauldron on a Moonlit Night (Tsukiyo no kama), from the series "One Hundred Aspects of the Moon (Tsuki hyakushi)" was created by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (月岡芳年) in 1886.

Yes — A Cauldron on a Moonlit Night (Tsukiyo no kama), from the series "One Hundred Aspects of the Moon (Tsuki hyakushi)" is part of the One Hundred Aspects of the Moon series (print 20 of 100) by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi.

A Cauldron on a Moonlit Night (Tsukiyo no kama), from the series "One Hundred Aspects of the Moon (Tsuki hyakushi)" depicts moonlight and night scenes.