Item from the Mokuhankan Flea Market

Three Laughs at Tiger Brook

Size: 20.5cm by 29.0cm (8.07 in by 11.42 in) | Enlargement | Shipping Code: [L] ?

Designer: Kano Motonobu

Era: Taisho | Currency: $ / £ / €

Price: ¥ 7,000$ 57.00£ 43.25€ 51.25 [Item has been sold]

Description: Part of a monthly subscription series of three woodblock prints issued by the Yamato Hanga Kanko-kai in ca. 1924.


A reproduction based on a painting by Kano Motonobu, a prominent artist of the 16th century. The title, "Three Laughs at Tiger Brook," refers to a Chinese anecdote about Huiyuan, a Buddhist monk who lived on Mount Lu. When Tao Yuanming and Lu Shujing visited him and Huiyuan saw them off, they became so engrossed in conversation that they crossed Tiger Creek, which Huiyuan had vowed not to cross, and all three burst out laughing.

Note: this print was made back in the era when Japan's industries were opening up to Western ideas and influences, and used what would these days be called a 'mixed media' approach in its creation.

Some parts of the image were put onto the paper with the collotype printing technique, based on photography from the original design. This part of the process would include registration marks, and once the collotype was printed, the paper would be trimmed to those marks, and other areas of the design then printed by hand from woodblocks in the traditional manner.

There are some traces of glue removal at the top of the backside.

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