Posted by theo de kreijger on January 20, 1998 at 02:07:00:
I have had this bookprint for years now and although it's in a bad shape and probably not a major piece of art, I still love to look at it once in a while. (The quality of the photograph is rather poor.)
I always thought it to be the first two pages of a (housewives) novel or perhaps even something naughtier. Trying to translate the text inside the cartouche, using all the Japanese dictionaries I could get hold of, I found something like this:
"The night is still young when the girl from the moon invites her prince to marry her and live with her happily ever after on her moon."
But I could have been wrong...
And who is the designer? The decorations on the clothes of the moongirl and her prince are very delicate and there is a striking floral decoration round the cartouche (like in Dutch etchings). Does this smell like Kuniyoshi or one of his pupils?!?
I wonder if there are any collectors who recognise this print, its designer, the depicted persons or perhaps the whole story. I would be very grateful if some of you could unravel it's mysteries.
Yours sincerly, Theo de Kreijger