KORYUSAI Isoda (1735-1790)
Couple making love on a futon. c.1760
- Category
- Japanese | Shunga
- Publisher
- Privately published.
chuban yoko-e, 25.3 cm × 18.7 cm
Very good impression and colour. A few thinning spots in the paper, otherwise good condition.
A young woman wipes herself with a tissue. The folded packets of paper were used both for general hygiene, and also for contraception. Before sex, a woman would insert a wad of this paper into her vagina, much like a contraceptive sponge.
The thick bedding, portable "hibachi" heater and glimpse of pine indicate the season to be mid-winter. Japanese houses were nothing more than paper and wood and the frigid winter weather would challenge even the most ardent lovers. But this young man appears to have risen to the occasion, as attested to by the saying "cold winter, warm hearts" (samui fuyu ni atatakai kokoro).
Attributed to Koryusai. Shunga are seldom signed by the artist.
£750