Mitsuhiro
Osaka, circa 1860
The head of a sea bream nestles in a ridged irregular-shaped bowl, its bright eyes attesting to its freshness. On the underside of the vessel, a bob-tailed cat prowls hungrily, its whiskers twitching with anticipation.
Signed: Mitsuhiro with kao
Width: 3.6cm
The bob-tailed variety of cat is indigenous to Japan and this image seems to have been inspired by Utagawa Kuniyoshi’s woodblock triptych Sono mama jiguchi myo-kaiko gyoju-sanbki (Cats suggested by the 53 stations of the To-koku).
