SIGNED, MEIJI PERIOD (19TH CENTURY)

The elephant and rider, sometimes mistakenly identified as the bodhisattva Fugen but in reality more often a female figure inspired by the designs of Utamaro and other ukiyoe artists, is a common subject in later Shibayama work. The Khalili collection includes a very similar example with a slightly different rider [see 1 below].

1 Impey, Oliver and Fairley, Malcolm [eds.], The Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Japanese Art, (London, 1995), vol. 4, pt. 2, cat. no. 177, signed Koichi.