** One of the most romantic designs in Yoshitoshi's Moon series ** Artist: Tsukioka Yoshitoshi 月岡芳年 (1839–1892) Title: "Shinobugaoka no tsuki – Gyokuensai" (忍岡月 玉淵斎) - Shinobugaoka Moon: Gyokuensai Series: Tsuki Hyakushi (One Hundred Aspects of the Moon) Date: Meiji 22, 11th month (November 1889) Publisher: Akiyama Buemon (Kokkeidō) Signature: Yoshitoshi 芳年 with red artist's seal Technique: Woodblock print (mokuhanga), polychrome nishiki-e Format: Ōban tate-e, approx. 36 × 24 cm -------------------------------------------------------------------- Condition Excellent to superb impression with vivid, fresh colours throughout. The deep blacks of Gyokuensai's kimono retain their full density and — most remarkably — display an exceptional burnished (tsuyazuri) surface texture that catches the light when the print is tilted, creating a shimmering woven-rope pattern across the entire garment. Cherry blossom petals are delicately rendered throughout. The orange has oxidised, which is entirely normal for prints using this pigment. The sheet carries an album backing. --------------------------------------------------------------------- The Scene A young samurai named Gyokuensai stands beneath a blossoming cherry tree at Shinobugaoka, an area of old Edo now part of Ueno Park in Tokyo, still famous today for its cherry blossoms. A sudden gust of wind sends a shower of petals through the air and lifts the hanging curtain beside him, revealing a woman behind it. The slender crescent moon hangs in the darkening turquoise sky — a composition built entirely on the Japanese aesthetic of transience: blossoms scattering, a moment glimpsed and gone. ------------------------------------------------------------------- The Series Tsuki Hyakushi (One Hundred Aspects of the Moon), published by Akiyama Buemon between 1885 and 1892, is universally regarded as the crowning achievement of Yoshitoshi's career and one of the last great monuments of the ukiyo-e tradition. Across one hundred designs drawn from history, legend, literature, and — as here — the living festival culture of Edo, the moon serves as the unifying thread. This sheet, published in June 1886 during the strong early run of the series, preserves the full publication block in the margin: the red date cartouche and the Akiyama Buemon address. Yoshitoshi trained under Utagawa Kuniyoshi and is widely regarded as the last great master of ukiyo-e. Impressions of this design are held by the Library of Congress, the National Museum of Asian Art (Smithsonian), the Art Gallery of New South Wales, and other major collections.