Item from the Mokuhankan Flea Market

Horsefly and Green Caterpillar

Size: 26.5cm by 38.0cm (10.43 in by 14.96 in) | Enlargement | Shipping Code: [L] ?

Designer: Kitagawa Utamaro

Era: Early Showa | Currency: $ / £ / €

Price: ¥ 12,000$ 96.00£ 70.00€ 82.00 [Item has been sold]

Description: The print is from Utamaro's series Pictures of Insects (Ehon Mushi Erami); a collection of 15 designs of insects and other garden creatures that pairs various insects with humorous or suggestive poems (kyoka) reflecting on human behavior. The poems were written by Ishikawa Masamochi.

In this delicate scene, a horsefly rests atop a small pink flower on the left side of the composition, while a green caterpillar crawls slowly along the stem of a leafy plant.

The accompanying kyoka on the right reads:

Horsefly: Although annoying I have no stinger to take revenge. Green Caterpillar: Tucked under a futon like the plumb green caterpillar in a wobbly boat my heart yearns for you.

This verse playfully uses the insects as metaphors for vulnerability and unspoken affection.

This version is a post-war reproduction by the Ukiyoe Hanga Kankokai.

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