100 Aspects of the Moon # 54 by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi

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

Woodblock Prints Title: One Hundred Aspects of the Moon # 54 Wang Zhang Ling Moon

1st Publication: June 1887

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

Date of this edition: June 1887

Publisher: Akiyama Buemon.

Condition: Backed on an acid free album page, small stains in the upper margin, else very fine Excellent colors and impression, very good overall condition.

More about this print: This picture is an illustration of a quatrain about the moon on a spring night by the 8th-century Chinese poet Wang Zhang Ling. A noblewoman has been playing on her guqin - a seven-stringed zither - when she notices how beautiful the night is outside. She instructs her attendant to roll up the blinds so that she can see the full moon rising behind the trees. The poem reads: "The night is still and a hundred flowers are fragrant in the western palace - she orders the screen to be rolled up, regretting the passing of spring - with the qin across her lap she gazes at the moon - the colors of the trees are hazy in the indistinct moonlight."

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.