[HASEGAWA SHŪKICHI]. 長谷川周吉.

志ん板ままごと遊び. [Shinpan Mamagoto Asobi].
[New "Playing House" Game].

東京. [Tokyo]. 長谷川周吉. [Hasegawa Shūkichi]. 明治20 [ 1887]. Stock ID #170395

Colour woodblock sheet, 37.5 x 24.5cm. Light diagonal crease across lower corner. Foxing visible at edges in particular, red paint smudge lower corner. Good copy.

This colourful woodblock "Omocha-e" (toy pictures or play pictures) was published in 1887 and depicts four detailed scenes of an urban household life in the late Edo period. At the top is a dining scene where a mother and two children are having a meal, being served by a maid. The second is a kitchen scene where a maid retrieves dirty dishes, another maid tidies them up while a cook boils a pot on a charcoal hearth . The third, another kitchen scene where two women cook, while another sweeps the floor. The last scene shows a maid standing at the kitchen door in the act of purchasing a bunch of radishes from a vegetable hawker, while a young man with a bugle walks by. These four scenes together offer an insight into Japanese domestic life in the latter part of the 19th century.

Many Omocha-e were produced in the late Edo Period and early Meiji Period in Japan as early educational toys for children. Sugoroku games are one type of Oomocha-e. The pictures depict various aspects of the society, such as daily activities, seasonal festivals and topical incidents. Children played with them to enhance their imagination and acquire useful knowledge of life and behaviour.

When referring to this item please quote stockid 170395.

Price: $250.00 AU

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