An unusually vivid scene of rabbits under the full moon in pigment on silk signed Chikuho framed in a pale cloth mounting with ivory rollers (these will be changed for export) The scroll is 64.5 x 191 cm (25-1/2 x 75 inches). There are a few small jagged edges on the upper border, otherwise the scroll is in excellent condition.
Nakahara Chikuho (1891–?) was born in Kyoto in 1891, his given name Gikyō. He graduated the Kyoto Municipal School of Art (mod. University of Art) in 1913. Details of his artistic career, as well as the year of his death, remain shrouded in mystery. In addition to his work as a painter, he also served as abbot of Hōfukuji Temple in Katsura, where the fusuma paintings in the main hall are attributed to him. His favored subject was natural scenery. His works can also be seen in the main hall of the Honzanji “Kakubō” in Ukyo Ward, Kyoto, a site associated with the passing of Shinran Shōnin, founder of the Jōdo Shinshū tradition.
