Chikanobu published the *Chiyoda Castle* series in 1895, three decades after the Tokugawa shogunate had ceased to exist, reconstructing the interior life of the ōoku, the women's quarters of Edo Castle, from memory, oral accounts, and deliberate nostalgia. It comes from Japan, Meiji period (1868–1912), where that visual language carried specific meaning. The triptych format allowed him to stage domestic ceremonies across a continuous horizontal field, a compositional choice borrowed from earlier ukiyo-e masters but applied here to a world no living viewer could verify.The work belongs to a late phase in Meiji-era woodblock printing, when chromatic registration had reached industrial precision but the subject matter often looked backward, preserving rituals the modernising state was actively dismantling. The source triptych is held at @metmuseum in New York, where it remains on paper. MUGGMUSEET curatorial staff have preserved the work in ceramic form. The acquisition is complete.***This work entered the collection on 2026-06-12. The mug is the acquisition. The acquisition is complete.SpecificationsCeramic mug, 11oz. Dishwasher safe and microwave safe. Print wraps include the artwork panel and museum label panel on a white ceramic base. Fulfilled by Gelato and ships in 3 to 5 business days.
