Comment - Triptych of a New Year's Day design. The left panel shows a young boy steadying an enormous Edo kite ("Edo tako",  "江戸凧") patterned with a kabuki scene of two warriors. The boy smiles over his shoulder at the beauty standing behind him. She holds a shuttlecock and battledore ("Hanetsuki") for a popular holiday game similar to badminton. Several kites can be seen overhead. On the upper left between the red wall and the green bamboo Kadomatsu bundle is a  kite with five angles (coat-of-arms outline) , that may be a "Fukushima Kite" ("Fukushima-tako", "福島凧"), a "Sumiyoshi Kite"  ("Sumiyoshi-tako", "住吉凧") or "Sagara Kite" ("Sagara-tako", "相良凧"). The highest flying kite is a "Yakko Kite" ("Yakko-tako", "奴凧") or man kite, below the Yakko kite is a small edo-kite ("edo-tako", "江戸凧") to be seen.

The center panel shows a tonbi tako ("鳶凧") or Hawk kite high in the air (upper left). Next to him floates an tako tako ("鮹凧") or octopus kite, and below an correctly bridled edo kite. A rarely depicted kite train, with five consecutive Hawk kites reaching out to the blue bokashi shaded sky. The center of the panel shows the Hanetsuki partner of the lady on the left panel. She is also holding a hanetsuki and shuttlecock in her left hand and looks down to the boy behind the big central edo kite. Only part of the boy's hat or cap and his hand are to be seen, holding the large edo kite from behind. The bridle lines and the thick tail rope reach out to the right panel. In the background, green tiled roofs are to be seen. On the left of the center panel, a red walled department store wall is to be seen.

The store building extends to the right panel. The upper front wall of the store is provided with lots of advertising slips. A niche in the wall shows a flower arrangement. Next to the flower pots is the title cartouche. The title cartouche shows "春の明ぼの" with the first "の" character derived from old fashioned Manyōgana script. The dominant lady of the right panel has gathered her skirt, exposed her left foot with the black geta, and seems to make a step forward. She wears a kadomatsu twig in her right hand. The boy on the left to her is holding the thick tail rope of the big edo kite. Another Kadomatsu bundle is framing the right panel on the right side.

Series - ~


Artist - see Biography


Signature - left and right panel, Ichiyûsai Kuniteru ga (一雄斎國輝画) within the calabash otoshidama cartouche; center panel within otoshidama calabash as Sadashige Kuniteru-ga (貞重改國輝画); circular censor seal above all those signature otoshidama cartouches
 

Publisher - Fujioka-ya Keijirō (藤岡屋慶次郎) Shōrin-dō Publisher's (松林堂) on all three panels


Image Size - 36.5cm X  72.3cm   (14 3/8" x 28 1/2") + margins as shown


Condition - triptych; nishiki-e (cloured woodblock); Vertical ôban (ôban tate-e);