About This Print
Print number 2 二 from the series Moral Lessons for Daughters About the Two Sides of Life, consisting of twelve 十二 oban size prints. Each oban size print consists of two chuban size images, the top image displaying an example of bad behavior and the bottom half displaying good behavior. It is not unusual for the sheets to have been separated into two chuban size prints.In this chuban size print (the top half of the oban size sheet shown below) a woman plays a shamisen while a mother, a friend and her daughter talk, being inattentive to the music. Seven akudama 悪 urge them on in their inattentiveness. It takes more akudama to foster bad behavior than zendama 善 to encourage good behavior, a commentary on how it is easier to do the right thing.
For the origin of these zendama and akudama figures please see the article on this site titled Representations of Good and Evil: Origins of Zendama and Akudama Figures in Japanese Prints.
The uncut sheet
click on image to enlarge
About This Series
This series of prints was originally issued as a full size oban sheet containing examples of bad behavior on top and good behavior on bottom. It is not unusual for the sheets to have been cut into two chuban size prints. Each print in the series is numbered, this being number nine 九 out of a total of twelve 十二 full size oban prints.
This twelve print (24 scenes) 1873 series titled Moral Lessons for Daughters About the Two Sides of Life came on the heels of the popular 1872 series titled A Didactic Mirror of Good and Evil, both issued by the publisher Kōeidō. As shown below, the format of the prints in the two series were almost identical, the noticeable difference being the blue-colored (and on some prints, cyan-colored) background on the 1873 series.
Print two from the 1872 series
A Didactic Mirror of Good and Evil
教訓善悪鏡Print two from the 1873 series Moral Lessons for Daughters About the Two Sides of Life
娘教訓二面鏡
Print Details
| IHL Catalog | #2271 |
| Title or Description | No. 2 Bad Example |
| Series | Moral Lessons for Daughters About the Two Sides of Life Musume kyōkun nimen kagami 娘教訓二面鏡 [also seen translated as Two Sides of Educating Daughters] |
| Artist | Shōsai Ikkei (fl. 1860-late 1870s) |
| Signature |  |
| Seal | no artist's seal |
| Publication Date | 1873 |
| Publisher | Tsutaya Kichizō, (Kōeidō) 蔦屋吉藏 [Marks: pub. ref. 556] |
| Carver | |
| Impression | excellent |
| Colors | excellent |
| Condition | fair - wrinkling; multiple wormholes mostly repaired with tape on verso |
| Genre | ukiyo-e |
| Miscellaneous | |
| Format | chuban but originally issued as the top half of an oban-size sheet. |
| H x W Paper | 6 7/8 x 9 1/16 in. (17.5 x 23.0 cm) |
| H x W Image | 6 3/8 x 8 5/8 in. (16.2 x 21.9 cm) [area within black border] |
| Literature | |
| Collections This Print | Edo-Tokyo Museum 90200064 |
4/2/2020 created
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