Spinning Tops
独楽回し
- Date:
- c. 1906
- Medium:
- Color woodblock print
Typical Price
"Spinning Tops" (koma mawashi) captures boys absorbed in this classic Japanese pastime, a subject brimming with kinetic energy. The Kodomo Asobi series published by Matsuki Heikichi in 1906 represents some of the earliest shin-hanga collaboration between artist and publisher. Pre-earthquake editions fetch $1,500-$2,800; post-earthquake reprints are $500-$1,000.
Description
Spinning Tops (Koma-mawashi), from around 1906, depicts children absorbed in one of the classic toys of traditional Japan. Top-spinning was both simple amusement and competitive sport, with players judging whose top spun longest or could knock others from a ring. Shoun's color woodblock freezes the moment of the spin, the top a blur of motion rendered in still ink on paper. The children's faces show the focused intensity that a good spin demands: the precise flick of the wrist, the string wound just so, the held breath as the top hits the ground and either wobbles to a stop or catches its balance and hums.
