Igirisu|Englishmen Dining
1st month, 1861
Medium
Woodblock print; ink and color on paper
Dimensions
Image: 14 1/2 x 9 7/8 in. (36.8 x 25.1 cm)
Classification
Prints
Culture & Period
Japan · Edo period (1615–1868)
Department
Asian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Bequest of William S. Lieberman, 2005
Accession Number
2007.49.196
Tags
Art Historical Context
**Igirisu|English Dining** is a vibrant woodblock print by Utagawa Yosha, created in the first month of 1861 Japan's late Edo period (1615–1868). Yoshitora, a prolific artist from the renowned Utagawa school, in ukiyo-e—"pictures of the floating world"—that captured the fleeting trends and curiosities of urban life. This work belongs to the Yokohama-e genre, which exploded in popularity after Commodore Perry forced Japan open to foreign trade in 1854, flooding ports like Yokohama with Westerners and sparking a national obsession with their exotic customs. The print depicts Englishmen seated o...
About the Artist
Utagawa Yoshitora · 1845–1880
Utagawa Yoshitora (歌川 芳虎), also known by his art names Ichimōsai, Mōsai, and Kinchōrō, was a prolific ukiyo-e artist born in Edo (modern Tokyo), where he trained under the renowned Utagawa Kuniyoshi, recognized as his oldest pupil. Little is known of his early life, which remains sparsely documented, but his earliest works include illustrations for the book *Story of Karasu Kanzaemon’s Loyalty* in...