Description: vertical ōban triptych
Label Text: Very little is known about Hirose Bihō (born 1873), also known as Hirose Yoshikuni, except that he was a designer of kachō-e, or 'animal and flower pictures" and prints of the Russo-Japanese war, like this one, for the publishing firm Daikokuya Heikichi, run by Matsuki Heikichi in 1904 (Marks, 274; listed as "Hirose Yoshikuni"). This print is signed "Bihō" at lower right of the right panel and bears the artist's seal. This artist is also sometimes identified as Takahashi Bihō, as they share the same signature (see Merritt, Helen, and Nanako Yamada, "Bihō," from 'Guide to Modern Japanese Woodblock Prints," University of Hawaii: Honolulu(1992): 15.) Another example of this print, which can be found in the Boston MFA (2000.469a-c), has a more intact publisher's inscription along the left margin of the left panel, which both identifies Matsuki Heikichi as the publisher and gives the precise date of publication as August 15, 1904 (Meiji 37).
Tags: soldiers; uniforms; fighting; swords; firearms; battlefields; smoke; landscapes; nature; fighting Link to share this object record: https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=AC+2001.646.1-.3 |