Hover to zoom or click for full-size image.
UTAMARO II (d.1831)
The Courtesan Shigeoka of the Okamoto-ya. c.1810-20
- Category
- Japanese | Beauties
- Publisher
- Izumi-ya Ichibei
oban tate-e, 26.5 cm × 38.1 cm
Good impression, fresh colour. Surface soil, marks, rubbing (publisher mark) and tiny, expert edge-repair lower right corner, otherwise good condition. S.M Shiba dealer seal au verso.
The courtesan Shigeoka of the Okamoto-ya brothel stretches out her arms to display a magnificent kimono, decorated with plovers taking flight over a meandering stream. The kimono was the courtesans prized possession, and a source of great rivalry within the trade. Stories abound of courtesans attempting to usurp one another with originality in design.
For another impression see Museum Volkenkunde Leiden.
£1275
Hover to zoom or click for full-size image.
TOSHIKATA Mizuno. (1866-1908)
Jakko-in Temple. 1901.
- Category
- Japanese | Beauties
- Publisher
- published in Bungei Kurabu.
kuchi-e woodblock, 30.0 cm × 24.0 cm
Finely printed with shômenzuri on the hair and silver pigments. Very good colour. The usual 'magazine' folds with kuchi-e. Very good condition. Kuchi-e are still one of the most undervalued areas of fine Japanese woodblock printing.
Empress Tokuko is depicted in Heian style, her long hair cascading down the back of her twelve layered kimono. She became a nun after her young son Antoku died in the battle of Dannoura. Toshikata creates a strong duality with the sumptuous court robes of Tokuko in the foreground and the background view of her ascetic life with two other nuns at the Jakko-in hermitage. This kuchi-e appeared in the literary magazine 'Bungei kurabu' as a frontispiece to the novel 'Jakkoin' by Miyake Seiken. Red 'Toshikata' seal.
Reference; Plate 3.6, Pg.44 'Woodblock Kuchi-e Prints: Reflections of Meiji Culture', Helen Merritt ISBN 0-8248-2073-8
£110
Hover to zoom or click for full-size image.
KUNISADA I/TOYOKUNI III (1786-1865)
Fukagawa Iyo setsu. 1855
- Category
- Japanese | Beauties
- Publisher
- Iseba Magobei
chuban, 29.5 cm × 23.0 cm
Excellent impression with splashed gofun to imitate snow. Pristine colour. One small wormhole, expertly restored, otherwise very good condition.
Fukagawa Iyo setsu. Iyo Province; Time in Fukagawa. An uncut fan print depicting a snow scene and a beauty clutching her hair pin. Dated third month, 1855. Another copy of this fan print is at the Ukiyo-e Museum, Matsumoto, Japan. Illustrated on Pg 221 of 'Japanese Woodblock Prints' by Andreas Marks.
£2500
Hover to zoom or click for full-size image.
EISHI Hosoda (1756-1829)
Fukurokuju. 1795.
- Category
- Japanese | Beauties
- Series
- Fukujin takara awase.
- Publisher
- Nishimuraya Yohachi.
oban tate-e, 25.0 cm × 39.0 cm
Excellent impression and good colour with slight fading to the yellow ground. Good condition with minor soil. Large sheet.
A beauty is likened to Fukurokuji, one of the Seven Gods of Fortune in Japanese mythology. His emblems are represented here by the staff (to which his sacred book is tied) and the crane, a symbol of longevity. The girl raises her sleeve to conceal her emotions, a common device in beauty prints. The series title 'Comparison of the Treasures of the Seven Gods of Good Fortune' is written on the hand scroll, along with makimono (scholars scrolls), one of the traditional takaramono (myriad treasures) associated with the gods. Signed Eishi ga
£2600
Hover to zoom or click for full-size image.
SHIKIMARO Kitagawa. (fl.1810)
Ôi of the Ebiya. 3/1813
- Category
- Japanese | Beauties
- Series
- Female Poetic Immortals in the Modern Style. (Imayô onna kasen, sanjûrokuban tsuzuki.)
- Publisher
- Nishimuraya Yohachi (Eijudô).
ôban tate-e, 26.0 cm × 38.0 cm
Very good impression, colour and condition.
The courtesan Oi of the Ebiya smokes a pipe while admiring her reflection in a mirror. Her magnificent outer kimono is decorated with the fan emblem of the house of Ebiya. The box to the left shows her calligraphy, and the names of her two kamuro (child apprentice), Miyako and Sakuro.
£2400
Hover to zoom or click for full-size image.
EISEN Keisai. (1790-1848)
Yokkaichi: Hanazono of the Miu-raya. c.1821
- Category
- Japanese | Beauties
- Series
- Tôkaidô Board Game of Courtesans. Keisei dôchû sugoroku.
- Publisher
- Tsutaya Kichizo (Koeido)
oban tate-e, 25.1 cm × 37.1 cm
Excellent impression and colour. Some soil along the right side and trimmed, otherwise very good condition.
The courtesan, Hanazono of the Miu-raya, clutches a wad of paper tissues (kaishi) tucked into her obi while admiring a white orchid in a wall basket. The series (A Traveling Game with Yoshiwara Courtesans Matched with the Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido) is a mitate, an unexpected juxtaposition, in which famous courtesans are paralleled with a station from the Tokaido road. The inset shows Yokkachi, the forty-third post en route from Edo to Kyoto.
Signed Keisai Eisen ga with 'kiwame' seal.
Boston Museum of Fine Arts Impression.
£750
Hover to zoom or click for full-size image.
KUNISADA I/TOYOKUNI III (1786-1865)
Kiritsubo. 2/1858.
- Category
- Japanese | Beauties
- Series
- Genji goshû yojô.
- Publisher
- Sakanaya Eikichi.
- Blockcutter
- Yokogawa Takejirô.
ôban tate-e, 25.6 cm × 37.4 cm
Excellent impression, with karazuri (blind printing) and excellent colour. Tiny paper nick lower left side (possibly intrinsic), otherwise very good condition. The left panel of a diptych.
Sugibae carries a kimono for her mistress Hanagiri, the shogun's favourite concubine. Hanagiri soiled the hem of her robe while inadvertently stepping in fish intestines which had been scattered in her path by spiteful rivals at court. As Sugibae scampers away with the dirty dress, she lights her path with a tetoro hand lantern to avoid the fish guts.
This print is from Kunisada's series "Lasting Impressions of a Late Genji Collection", illustrating Ryûtei Tanehiko's A Fake Murasaki, transposing the 11th century classic novel "A Tale of Genji" into the contemporaneous culture of mid-19th century Edo. Signed Toyokuni ga.
£320
Hover to zoom or click for full-size image.
SHINSUI Itō (1898-1972)
Han'eri (Collar of an undergarment). 1929.
- Category
- Japanese | Beauties
- Series
- Gentai bijinshu dai isshu (Modern Beauties - first series)
- Publisher
- Shōzaburō Watanabe. Edition 132/250.
dai ōban tate-e., 28.9 cm × 43.8 cm
Excellent impression and colour. Very light trace of mounting residue upper corner verso, otherwise excellent condition.
A woman sewing a han'eri collar with red thread, from the first series of Modern Beauties. Signed Shinsui ga with Shinsui seal. Published by Shōzaburō Watanabe in an limited edition of 132/250 printed verso, followed by the publisher's rectangular Watanabe seal, c.1929.
£2780
Hover to zoom or click for full-size image.
SHINSUI Itō (1898-1972)
Firefly (Hotaru). 6/1934.
- Category
- Japanese | Beauties
- Series
- The Second Series of Modern Beauties (Gendai bijinshu dai-nishu)
- Publisher
- Shōzaburō Watanabe. Ed. 115/250
dai ōban tate-e, 28.4 cm × 44.0 cm
Excellent impression, colour and condition.
A beautiful woman, wearing a light summer yukata, catches a firefly with her uchiwa fan. Fireflies are ephemeral creatrues. They emerge from their crysallis in June and viewing the fireflies' glow on a summer's evening has always been a popular pastime in Japan (Hotaru-gari).
Signed Shinsui ga with artist's seal Shinsui. Dated Showa kyunen rokugatsu (Showa 9 [1934], June with Watanabe C 'sausage seal (1929-1942) in right margin. Numbered on verso 115/250.
£2950