100 Aspects of the Moon # 47 by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi

Additional Pictures: Artist: Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (Taiso) (1839-1892)

Woodblock Print Title: Kinto picks a plum branch in the moonlight from the series 100 aspects of the moon

1st Publication: January 1887

Size: Oban; 13 1/2" x 9 1/4" + margins (34 x 23.5 cm + margins)

Date of this edition: January 1887

Publisher: Akiyama Buemon

Condition: Some soiling.

More about this print: Fujiwara no Kinto (966-1041), aka Shijo-dainagon, was a poet that was highly admired by his contemporaries. He was also a musician, a scholar, and a Heian court official. Snow has fallen on the buildings of the imperial palace during the night, and Kinto has gone out into the moonlit courtyard to pluck and admire a flowering plum branch.

His verse reads: "In the midst of glimmering whiteness, among the night’s moon shadows - I part the snow and pluck plum blossoms."

Pictures: Pictures are taken outdoor, in the shade, to reflect true colors, without any enhancements of any kind. The last picture is taken indoor, with a light behind the print, to reveal the exact paper grain, holes if any, or other possible flaws.