A hawk-headed man attacks a crane; a woman standing on a boat reads her letter and a bird-headed man behind her reads the same letter. Colour woodcut by Kyōsai, 1860s.

Edo [Tokyo] : [between 1863 and 1866]

1 print : woodcut, ink, colour, on paper ; 18 x 12 cm.

Kyōsai-ga a kite gives birth to the child of a hawk (top right of image); sharp-eyed as a cormorant or hawk (centre right of image)

The print is from the series One hundred pictures by Kyôsai (Kyôsai hyakuzu) (狂斎百図), which was first published between 1863 and 1866 by Wakasaya Yoichi (若狭屋与市), owner of Jakurindo (若林堂).

The artist's signature is in the lower centre right of the image. The single kanji character on the left means 'artist who painted' and the 2 characters on the right (reading downwards) says Kyosai - here they have used the incorrect kanji character for their name. It is instead a play on words- the character they have used for 'Kyo' means 'crazy/insane' (it phonetically sounds the same, but the meaning is different to the artist's name).

Wellcome Collection 37692i