Toyohara Chikanobu (豊原周延) (artist 1838 – 1912)
Shun 舜 from the series, Parody of 24 examples of filial piety (Nijūshikō mitate e-awase - 二十四孝見立画合)
1890
9.5 in x 13.8 in (Overall dimensions) Japanese woodblock print
Signed: Yōshū Chikanobu (楊洲周延)
Publisher: Shimizuya Tsunejirō
(Marks 469 - seal 26-069 variant)
Lyon Collection - another print from this series Laura Allen wrote on page 153 in The Printer's Eye: Ukiyo-e from the Grabhorn Collection in reference to an Okamura Masanobu of this same theme shown at the top: "The series title Twenty-four Paragons of Filial Piety refers to a work said to have been composed by the Yuan dynasty (1279-1368) Chinese scholar Guo Jujing. The subject of this print is a virtuous young man known as Dashun (or simply Shun), who never deviated from proper respect toward his family despite harsh treatment from his father, his cruel stepmother, and her jealous son. When scolded or beaten, he simply escaped outside, cultivating the family fields alone. Noting his filial devotion, creatures emerged from the nearby mountains to help: in spring elephants came to plow the furrows, and in summer birds flocked to pull weeds. When the emperor heard this tale, he stepped in and guided the young man, until eventually Shun assumed the throne himself and became a virtuous ruler."
There is another copy of this print in the Hachinohe Clinic Machikado Museum. And there is supposedly another copy in the library at Princeton University.
Shimizuya Tsunejirō (清水屋常次郎) (publisher)
mitate-e (見立て絵) (author)