Skip to main content
Advanced Search
Advanced Search
A Contest of Ladies in Enlightened Fashion
A Contest of Ladies in Enlightened Fashion
Object number1994.13.9

A Contest of Ladies in Enlightened Fashion

Date1888
Artist (Japanese, 1838 - 1912)
Publisher (Japanese)
Blockcutter (Japanese, 1844 - 1894)
CultureJapanese
MediumWoodblock print (ôban triptych) mounted to paperboard
DimensionsSheet (Each): 13 7/8 x 9 1/4 in. (35.2 x 23.5 cm)
Composition: 13 7/8 x 27 7/8 in. (35.2 x 70.8 cm)
Mount: 14 3/4 x 28 7/8 in. (37.5 x 73.3 cm)
Matted: 22 x 36 in. (55.9 x 91.4 cm)
Credit LineGift of Robert S. Black, in memory of Barbara Bell Black, class of 1924
Period19th c (Meiji period)
Classification(s)
Signed楊洲周延筆 [Yôshû Chikanobu hitsu] on right sheet
InscribedOn recto, printed within image, upper right: 改良貴婦人競 [Kairyō kifujin kurabe, A Contest of the Reformed Ladies]; lower right: 楊洲周延筆 [Yōshū Chikanobu hitsu, Drawn by Yōshū Chikanobu]; lower left: 明治 [Meiji], 年 [nen, year], 月 [getsu, month], 日[nichi, day]; [unidentified character]年四月二十一日 出板 日本バシ区 [? nen shigatsu nijūichinichi shuppan, Nihonbashi ku, Published on the twenty-first day of the fourth month of __ at Nihonbashi District] / 本銀町二丁目十二バン千 [Honshiroganechō nichōme jūnibanchi, Number 12 of 2nd Street, the Town of Honshirogane]; 印刷兼発行者 武川卯之吉 [Insatsu ken hakkōsha Takekawa Unokichi, Printer and publisher Takekawa Unokichi]; 彫工 銀 [Chōkō Gin, Carver Gin]
Vassar Exhibitions
Exhibition HistorySecond Sight: Originality, Duplicity, and the Object, Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY, January 14 - April 10, 2005;

Madame Butterfly's World: Woodblock Prints of a Changing Japan, Fenimore Art Museum, Cooperstown, NY, June 21 - September 21, 2014
Label TextPrinted six years after Kobayashi Eisei’s Enlightened Nobility List (left), this print by Yōshū Chikanobu depicts a large gathering of Japanese women in Western-style dresses, along with a military officer in uniform. While showcasing Western modernity, the image also highlights the role of prints as propagandistic and instructional tools, meant both for public consumption in Japan and as well as the West. In January 1887, one year prior to the publication of Chikanobu’s print, a decree from Empress Shōken was published in the newspaper Chōya Shinbun that urged women to follow her lead and adopt Western styles as she had in 1886. The design does not explicitly identify the central figure as Empress Shōken, but her positioning, elaborate dress, and mannerisms support the possibility. The brooch at the base of her neck resembles the imperial chrysanthemum on the breast of the nearby officer’s uniform. The delicate pose of her upturned wrists and a downward, three-quarter gaze are also common motifs in images of the empress.
DescriptionPolychrome print in predominantly reds and blues of Japanese women in western style dress standing outdoors against a lush backdrop of trees and flowers. A man in a military uniform is at right and an open body of water is in the background.
Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email loebcollections@vassar.edu