Oroshia|Chinese Servant and Frenchman
2nd month, 1861
Medium
Woodblock print; ink and color on paper
Dimensions
Image: 15 3/4 x 11 1/4 in. (40 x 28.6 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
2007.49.228
Tags
Art Historical Context
This woodblock print by Utagawa Yoshiiku captures a lively encounter between a Chinese servant and a Frenchman, created in the second month of 1861 during Japan’s late Edo period. As one of the Yokohama-e prints that emerged after the country’s ports opened to foreign trade, it reflects the curiosity and cultural exchange sparked by Western arrivals in the 1850s. Yoshiiku, a noted ukiyo-e artist, used bold lines and vibrant colors to portray these figures with a mix of observation and gentle caricature. Printed with ink and color on paper in the traditional multi-block technique, the work mea...
About the Artist
Utagawa Yoshiiku · 1833–1904
Utagawa Yoshiiku (1833–1904) was a prolific Japanese woodblock print artist and journalist who lived through one of the most turbulent and transformative periods in his country's history, the transition from the Edo period through the Meiji Restoration. A student of the celebrated Utagawa Kuniyoshi, Yoshiiku inherited his master's taste for bold compositional drama and dynamic figuration, applying...