Catching Fireflies
Eishosai Choki
c.1790s
Medium
Color woodblock print; ōban
Dimensions
37.2 × 23.2 cm (14 5/8 × 9 1/8 in.)
Classification
woodblock print
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
90193
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Ground mica powder, now worn and cracked, originally made the night sky of this print luminous, providing a fitting backdrop to the glow of the fireflies. Artists used mica intermittently from the 1790s into the early 1800s in order to create more luxurious prints. From time to time, the government employed sumptuary laws—laws preventing extravagance—to ban the use of mica because it made prints too expensive. Even when it was legal to do so, artists likely produced mica backgrounds in limited ...