Kawanabe Kyosai woodblock “The Great Tengu Does Calligraphy; A Nose-pulling Contest with an Elephant”, Edo satire 1863–66

Artist: Kawanabe Kyosai (1831–1889)
Series: One Hundred Pictures by Kyosai (暁斎百図, Kyosai Hyakuzu)
Date: ca. 1863–1866 (late Edo period)
Publishers and editions: the series was issued twice in the 19th century — first as single sheets in the 1860s (Wakasaya Yoichi), and later as an album reprint in the 1880s (Okura Magobei)
Format: chūban (approx. 13 × 18 cm)
Medium: polychrome woodblock print (nishiki-e) on handmade washi paper

Subject and scene
The composition contrasts two absurd acts. In the upper register, the Great Tengu performs calligraphy with exaggerated gravity while assistants prepare ink and brushes. In the lower part, a tengu engages in a nose-pulling contest with an elephant across a tray of sake and food.

Meaning and context
Kyosai’s humor merges studio parody with yokai grotesque. The disciplined art of calligraphy and the comic duel of noses become metaphors for vanity, competition, and the thin boundary between artistry and spectacle. The print embodies the spirit of Kyosai Hyakuzu — playful, self-ironic, and observant of human folly.

Material and stylistic notes
Thin handmade washi with visible pigment bleed, bright mineral colors, and sharp black contours. Such printing qualities correspond to early production of the 1860s, though both editions of the series share similar compositional blocks.

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