Utagawa Yoshitoyo, "Elephant in Ryogoku"

Beginning in the 1850s, the once-reclusive Japan saw an influx of foreigners from the West, many arriving through the newly opened port of Yokohama. Japanese artists documented these unfamiliar visitors and the rapidly changing world around them in a genre of prints known as yokohama-e. 

In this design, an exotic elephant from India becomes the main attraction for the residents of Edo (modern-day Tokyo), where sideshows (misemono) were staged to astonish the public with these once-novel creatures. Yoshitoyo captures the spectacle playfully, depicting the elephant spraying water from its trunk as its attendants look on. The unusual subject and lively composition offer a charming glimpse into the fascination that exotic animals inspired in nineteenth-century Japan. The detailing on the elephant is enhanced with a sprinkle of mica. 

Date: 1863
Size: Oban
Publisher: Enshuya Hikobei
Condition: Mica on elephant, excellent color and condition
Frame Shown: 16" x 24" x 1/2", Classic Wood, Ebony

Utagawa Yoshitoyo (active 1860s) was a student of Kunisada and Kuniyoshi, and while not widely known, his yokohama-e prints are well-regarded and contain some of the most fascinating designs from the time period.