Twenty-four Paragons of Filial Piety - Utagawa Kuniyoshi

A refined woodblock print by Utagawa Kuniyoshi, featuring a minimalist still life from the series A Harimaze Mirror of Joruri Plays.

This woodblock print is a fragment from the series A Harimaze Mirror of Joruri Plays (Harimaze joruri kagami), produced by Utagawa Kuniyoshi around 1852. The term harimaze refers to a format where multiple distinct images are printed on a single large sheet, intended to be cut apart by the purchaser. This specific circular composition depicts a minimalist still life, featuring a wooden tool and a black lacquered box set against a gradient background that transitions from a dark, starlit sky to a pale green foreground.

Kuniyoshi, a master of the Utagawa school, is recognised for his imaginative compositions and technical skill in the ukiyo-e tradition. While he is often associated with dramatic warrior prints and kabuki actors, this work demonstrates his ability to capture quiet, symbolic objects with precision. The inclusion of the Twenty-four Paragons of Filial Piety theme links the object to Confucian moral narratives, which were popular subjects in Edo-period Japan. The composition relies on the interplay between the geometric forms of the tools and the atmospheric circular frame, a common device in Japanese printmaking to focus the viewer's attention on a contained scene.

The print exhibits the refined use of colour and line characteristic of mid-nineteenth-century Japanese woodblock production. The subtle bokashi (gradation) technique in the background provides depth, while the clean lines of the objects create a sense of stillness. This piece offers a glimpse into the diverse output of Kuniyoshi, showing his capacity for both grand narrative scenes and delicate, focused studies of everyday items. It remains a representative example of the harimaze format, which allowed artists to experiment with varied subjects within a single publishing project.