Have a (tanuki) ball...
Aug 4, 2009 | 8:13 pm
#1
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Have a (tanuki) ball...
Slightly NSFW (really not): Ukiyo-e of amazing uses for tanuki...sacs. I feel like this is the Tokugawa equivalent of an infomercial: "You can catch fish, make mochi, carry all your belongings!"
http://www.pinktentacle.com/2009/06/...-by-kuniyoshi/
http://www.pinktentacle.com/2009/06/...-by-kuniyoshi/
Aug 5, 2009 | 8:04 am
#2
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I do so love those features in magazines that show you 101 ways to use a tenugui (this portable gym example belongs on an infomercial), or 20 hats you can make with a tenugui, or 50 ways to use a furoshiki as gift wrap.
There MUST be a really long tradition for this kind of information as I can only assume that these prints are a clever parody.
I've no intention of sanitising the old tanuki tales by telling my offspring that these creatures drummed on their bellies. These will make a wonderful resource! Cheers!
There MUST be a really long tradition for this kind of information as I can only assume that these prints are a clever parody.
I've no intention of sanitising the old tanuki tales by telling my offspring that these creatures drummed on their bellies. These will make a wonderful resource! Cheers!
Aug 5, 2009 | 10:38 am
#3
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If you like these kinds of things, you should look up the "farting contest" in the 2nd choju jinbutsu giga emaki from the Heian Era (12th century). A classic.
Aug 5, 2009 | 11:44 am
#4
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I wasn't doubting that Kuniyoshi was the Artist, but wondering if he was parodying whatever was the then (19thC) equivalent of the '101 ways to wear a Hermes Scarf' one sees in publications today.
Whilst I'd be highly amused if it turned out that he started off this phenomenon with this set of prints, I can't quite imagine this is what happened.
Whilst I'd be highly amused if it turned out that he started off this phenomenon with this set of prints, I can't quite imagine this is what happened.
Aug 5, 2009 | 11:52 am
#5
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I think the tradition for artists to produce work as a series on a theme was a pretty standard business model. Customers would subscribe or purchase the entire series. For popular artists, the first print run could be sold before it was ready - a bit like the pre-publication sales on amazon.
Subjects of serialization included theater, nature, eroticism, toilet humor etc. I don't think this is a "parody" of that. It is that.
Subjects of serialization included theater, nature, eroticism, toilet humor etc. I don't think this is a "parody" of that. It is that.