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two red and black silhouettes of people and animals on a red backgrounda red and black drawing of people in silhouettes on a red backgrounda red and black painting with black figures on it
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21 - KOBAYASHI Ikuhide 小林幾英
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Estimate €1,700 - €2,000
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Description
KOBAYASHI Ikuhide 小林幾英 civil name Kobayashi Eijirō 小林英次郎 also known as Hikitei 飛幾亭 and Shinpitei 箴飛亭 Shinban andō utsushi-e Shinban kage-e zukushi ‘Shadow Play and Projections’ Japan, 1881 (Meiji 14) Two nishiki-e, polychrome woodblock prints on paper Publisher: Higuchi Gintarō, Tokyo Ōban format, 36.5 × 23.5 cm each These two prints by Kobayashi Ikuhide, a pupil of Ochiai Yoshiiku, are among the most captivating examples of popular visual culture from the early decades of the Meiji era. Published in 1881, they belong to the category of omocha-e, or ‘toy prints’, and are titled Shinban andō utsushi-e and Shinban kage-e zukushi. Copies of both prints are held at the International Research Centre for Japanese Culture, which attributes them to Kobayashi Ikuhide, also known by his civil name, Kobayashi Eijirō. The compositions bring together a multitude of black silhouettes set against a vivid red background. Figures from everyday life, entertainment characters and supernatural creatures appear in succession in a repertoire that is at once comic, theatrical and unsettling. Among them are women in kimonos, travellers, a blind masseur, a rickshaw driver and various figures in motion, mingling with yōkai and other fantastical beings, including kappa, yūrei, one-eyed figures, animated umbrellas, beings with disproportionately long necks and scenes of metamorphosis. Kage-e, literally ‘shadow picture’, forms part of a long-standing Japanese tradition of silhouette theatre. During the Edo period, these entertainments could be performed behind the translucent panels of shōji, using the hands, the body or small props to make animals, characters and fantastical forms appear. Prints of this type themselves fell into the category of omocha-e and transformed these visual games into printed images. Utsushi-e belongs to a different genre, that of light projection. Developed in Japan from the Western magic lantern introduced in the late 18th century, this spectacle used portable projection devices and painted plates to create moving images, transformations and supernatural apparitions on a screen. It thus constitutes one of the major forms of Japanese optical spectacle preceding the advent of cinema. These two prints lie precisely at the intersection of these cultures of shadow, projection and popular imagery. Their silhouettes encapsulate a whole world of gestures, social types and fantastical creatures, the forms of which the viewer is invited to recognise. More than a mere depiction of performances, they bear witness to the era’s taste for visual illusions, metamorphoses and the interplay between appearance and disappearance. Their uniform red background further enhances this spectacular dimension. The bodies, reduced to their outlines, become almost graphic symbols, whilst the juxtaposition of the everyday and the supernatural recreates the atmosphere of popular entertainment, curiosity shows and the imaginary world of bakemono and yōkai. A copy of *Shinban kage-e zukushi* held at the National Museum of Japanese History is specifically described as a woodblock print depicting, amongst other things, kappa, ghosts, processions, masseurs and various shadow figures. The museum classifies it within its collection dedicated to fantastical tales and yōkai.
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About the sale Art Animation VII: Monsters, Villains and Antagonists
Auction location
Auction time 10/18/2026 at 3:00 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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