About this Print and the Series Kyōsai Hyakuzu
The Print
The second part of the print's title baka ni tsukeru kusuri wa nai is a proverb meaning "there is no cure for a fool." Certainly the gentleman in the lower right is acting like a drunken fool, performing some disgusting act that provokes both consternation and hilarity. At the top of the print an otafuku (a homely woman, but also the goddess of mirth) dances and to the right of her bottles of shirozake (sweet white sake) are evident.
Compare this print with the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston copy below on the right. They are certainly different printings and they appear to be printed using different woodblocks. While this collection's print has crisper lines than the Boston print, indicating an earlier printing, it may well be a later printing from re-carved woodblocks.
The Series
Source: Comic Genius: Kawanabe Kyōsai, Oikawa Shigeru, Clark Timothy and Forrer Matthi, Tokyo Shinbun, 1996, p. 206.
This print was issued as part of the series the Kyōsai hyakuzu 狂斎百図 (One Hundred Pictures by Kyōsai) which consists of more than 200 pictorializations of proverbs and depictions of famous subjects unrelated to proverbs. The prints were published continuously from 1863 to 1866* by the publisher Wakasaya and the works were later reprinted in album form by the publisher Ōkura Magobei (Ōkuraya) in 1881 and 1886. The prints in this collection are likely from one of Ōkura Magobei's reprint editions, as they show evidence of having been removed from an album.
One hundred of the proverbs depicted in Kyōsai hyakuzu were translated into French in 1885 under the title Cent Proverbes Japonais by Francis Steenackers and Ueda Tokunosuke.
Source: Comic Genius: Kawanabe Kyōsai, Oikawa Shigeru, Clark Timothy and Forrer Matthi, Tokyo Shinbun, 1996, p. 206.
This print was issued as part of the series the Kyōsai hyakuzu 狂斎百図 (One Hundred Pictures by Kyōsai) which consists of more than 200 pictorializations of proverbs and depictions of famous subjects unrelated to proverbs. The prints were published continuously from 1863 to 1866* by the publisher Wakasaya and the works were later reprinted in album form by the publisher Ōkura Magobei (Ōkuraya) in 1881 and 1886. The prints in this collection are likely from one of Ōkura Magobei's reprint editions, as they show evidence of having been removed from an album.
One hundred of the proverbs depicted in Kyōsai hyakuzu were translated into French in 1885 under the title Cent Proverbes Japonais by Francis Steenackers and Ueda Tokunosuke.
This print series was very popular, enhancing Kyōsai's reputation and making a large profit for the publishers.
*1863-1866 are the most common publication dates provided for these prints, though the literature cites dates as early as 1862 for the first publication date and reprints of this series are still being made. The prints were first issued by publisher Wakasaya Yoichi (aka Jakurindō Yoichi) as single-sheet prints, sold in ten print packages in a decorative envelope. Ōkura Magobei (aka Yorozuya Magobei) re-published the prints in bound book/album form in the 1880s.
Print Details
| IHL Catalog | #752 |
| Title or Description | White Sake for Otafuku, No Medicine for Foolishness おたふくに白酒 ばかにつける薬はない Otafuku ni shirozake, Baka ni tsukeru kusuri mo nai |
| Artist | Kawanabe Kyōsai (1831-1889) |
| Series | Kyōsai hyakuzu 狂斎百図 (One Hundred Pictures by Kyosai) |
| Signature |  |
| Seal of the Artist |  artist's stylized seal below signature |
| Publication Date |  |
| Publisher | unknown - originally issued by Wakasaya Yoichi in 1866 and then reprinted in book form by Ōkura Magobei |
| Carver | |
| Printer | |
| Impression | excellent |
| Colors | excellent |
| Condition | good - it is difficult to tell if the yellowing of this paper is due to toning or if the paper was originally this color |
| Genre | ukiyo-e; giga (comic print) |
| Miscellaneous | |
| Format | koban [Vertical yotsugiri (quarter ôban)] |
| H x W Paper | 7 5/8 x 5 3/8 in. (19.4 x 13.7 cm) |
| H x W Image | 6 5/8 x 4 3/8 in. (16.8 x 11.1 cm) |
| Collections This Print | Museum of Fine Arts, Boston 11.22657, 11.36975; 11.45393.23 (uncut sheet) |
| Reference Literature | |
8/2/2021
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