Title : La Peche Miraculeuse. Izu, Japon (The Miraculous Catch. Izu, Japan)

Artist : Paul Jacoulet

Date : 1939

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Source : Robyn Buntin of Honolulu
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Description : Seal, Boat; Carver, Maeda. 'As a portrayer of vanishing customs, Jacoulet is true to the ukiyo-e tradition of recording the life of the day. One such print is that of two fishermen clad in festive attire and ready to celebrate a record catch of fish. The master-fishermean who keeps tally and pays the men who went out in boats to set the nets and drag in the catch, has given each fisherman a special kimono for the celebration. Here we see two of the fishermen gazing out over the sea, watching for the tuna-laden boats to return. Behind them towers Mount Fuji, and beside them stands a tub brimming with the big, yellow-finned fish so essential to a Japanese diet. The garments of the men are of heavy cotton cloth, woven in Boshu and hand-dyed in striking designs. On the kimono of one man there are pictured the lucky emblems of pine and bamboo, a fan bearing the ideograph for katsuo (bonito, when dried, is used as a seasoning in Japanese cooking), and a pair of Manzai dancers such as go about on New Year's holidays. On the other man's kimono is a crane, grasping in its beak a banner bearing the ideographs for miraculous catch, with an interwoven design of pine branches and plum blossoms. This print will commemorate the fishermen's festival at Senbonmatsu - the shore of a 1000 pines along the Izu peninsula - long after the festival has ceased to be observed.' - Florence Wells

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