Rare Set of Framed Japanese Oshi-E Textile Art Meiji Period

On offer is one of the set of seven framed Japanese textile art called Oshi-E circa Meiji Period (1868-1912). This rare set consists of seven panels depicting various aspects of daily life in Edo time with stunning details. These snapshots of moments not only reveal the buzzling commercial activities at the marketplace, but also provide insight into the signages, architecture, costumes and how people interacted within a historical and pictorial context. They are beautifully framed in matching red giltwood frame of faux bamboo form with linen mat and gilt and cork trim. We rarely come across fine Oshi-E textile work, not mentioning a large group such as this. We offer them for sale individually but it will be great for a collector to consider the whole set so that they can stay together.
The set include seven lively scenes that mostly center on specialized merchants and shops with customers: a fabric store, a book-binding studio, a stone carving workshop, a basket-making studio and shop, a bottega that makes and sells brush pens and ink stones, a pastry and tofu house, and finally a lantern-viewing party at a tea house. The realistic rendering and attention to details are not short of "photographic" quality. From the signage of the shops, to the motions and attires of the individual characters, from the hairstyle, small ornaments, down to the facial expression, were all recorded in great details. Each panel was signed with the artist's name Yukihana in Kanji with a red seal.
The Oshi-E (also known as kiritori zaiku) is a type of ornamental textile art dated back to the Muromachi period (1392-1573). It started among the elite aristocratic women in Kyoto before spreading wider in the Japanese society. Throughout Edo and Meiji period, Oshi-E were sometimes used to make offerings to the altars in the temple and in the late 19th century, it was exported to the west along with the other embroidery textile art. Oshi-E was made by using silk wadding to create a relief design. Various silk fabric swaps and sometimes wires and tassels, often recycled from older kimonos among the other pieces, were used to create different desired effects. Much details were focused on the elaborate dresses, head wears, faces, and plants in the setting. Ink and watercolors were used to facilitate the details of the design such as the background painting and the facial detailing. The work was time-consuming and in Meiji period, it was considered as a feminine accomplishment along with ikebana, embroidery and tea ceremony. According to the book: Threads of silk and gold: ornamental textile from Meiji Japan published by Ashmolean museum of art and archaeology University of Oxford, few examples survived to this day.
Reference: Threads of Silk and Gold: Ornamental Textile from Meiji Japan published by Ashmolean museum of art and archaeology University of Oxford. Page 178.