Woodblock Print by Utagawa Yoshitora: Lion, Peony & Firefly, Framed

A fan raised like a stage cue, and the night fills with falling petals.

Lion, Peony & Firefly is a framed woodblock print by Utagawa Yoshitora (active 1850-1880), from Japan, dated 1862, in ink on paper. Yoshitora trained under Kuniyoshi, and prints of this period often tucked a riddle or a set of seasonal emblems into a figure's clothing and surroundings. A figure in a deep indigo robe printed with lions and peonies lifts a round fan washed in pale red and painted with grasses. A tie-dyed red collar frames the face, and night flowers crowd a dark ground. Pale blossoms drift overhead. It measures 21 inches wide, 1.75 deep and 26 high.

Three subjects in the title, all accounted for.