Among the many pupils of Utagawa Kuniyoshi are the two master painters Ochiai Yoshiiku (1833-1904) and Tsukioka Yoshitoshi, known as the leading Ukiyo-e artists in the Meiji period. Compared to Yoshitoshi, known for his individualistic style, Yoshiiku’s distinctive features lie in more intellectual expression and composition, and once the Meiji period began, gained acclaim through his active use of expressive mechanisms such as Western-style painting, photographic expression, shadow pictures, etc.
Examples of Yoshiiku’s hand-paintings are almost unknown, yet as can be seen in this picture, he shows high-level skill in robust strokes of the brush with overwhelming intricacy.
The illustration depicting the inside of a room of a samurai family or wealthy merchant, and the illustration of a courtesan’s chamber in a brothel which remained unframed were, in more recent years, made into a folding screen. Although the pictures are small, they are full of various elements such as figures, household furnishings, pictures within pictures, etc. in a high level of density. It is an artwork with the intellectual composition typical of Yoshiiku, having calculated the positioning of house and furniture, directions figures are facing, etc.
The style of the figures is the Utagawa school model that he imitated from his teacher, and from the manners and customs depicted, too, we can assume it is probably a work dating from around the end of the Edo period. The opinion also been presented that it is not a nostalgic artwork from the Meiji period.