Description
Refined sumizuri-e (墨摺絵) monochrome woodblock print in shikishiban (色紙判) square format, made around 1900 by the famous artist Ogata Gekko (尾形月耕) and depicting a Shinto shrine (神社) located near a forest.
The roof of the main building is decorated with two forked-shaped chigi (千木) finials, an architectural element endemic to Japan that predates Buddhist influence, an important aesthetic aspect that exclusively characterizes Shinto buildings and distinguishes them from other religious structures.
The rare print on Japanese washi paper (和紙), probably produced by the publisher Matsuki Heikichi (松木平吉), owner of Daikokuya (大黒屋), despite the presence of slight wrinkles on the right margin, is in overall very good condition.
