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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
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Katsukawa Shuncho fl. 1780-1801
Lovers. c.1790.
- Category
- Japanese | Shunga
- Publisher
oban tate-e, 37.6 cm × 25.0 cm
Excellent impression, colour and condition. A barely perceptible centrefold.
The restrained colouring is typical of beni-girai, avoiding red-dye, and with a yellow ground. The young man with a head scarf appears distracted. The woman, wearing a stellate printed yukata and clasping her arm, is leaning to the side, eyes closed and in the throes of passion. Unsigned as is usual for Shunga prints. Attributed to Shuncho.
Please contact the gallery for an uncensored picture.
£1950
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EISEN Keisai. (1790-1848)
Lovers reclining on a futon.
- Category
- Japanese | Shunga
- Publisher
oban Yoko-e, 38.0 cm × 25.0 cm
Excellent impression and very good colour. Some turning of the purple to brown. A centrefold and expertly repaired worming in the middle of the print, otherwise good condition.
A shunga based on a design Katsukawa Shuncho's The Thread of Present-day love encounters. A prostitute and her young customer, who has come to conduct his assignation without his father's consent, bargain with one another, while the girl coyly invites him to stay. Unsigned as are most erotic prints.
Please contact the gallery for an uncensored picture.
£600
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EIZAN Kikugawa (1787-1867)
Two Lovers and a Shamisen. c.1820's
- Category
- Japanese | Shunga
- Publisher
- Privately published.
ōban yoko-e, 37.4 cm × 24.3 cm
Very good impression, colour and condition. Slightly trimmed.
The three-stringed shamisen was relatively easy to play and geisha and courtesans studied the art of music. Here, a lesson has come to an abrupt end with the shamisen, plectrum and musical tablature cast to one side. The woman appears to be somewhat startled by the man's eager advances. She remains clothed during intimacy and it was understood that an artist would give special attention to the fashionable patterned clothing. This woodblock is printed predominantly with tan pigments, the muted palette typical of beni-girai (red avoiding prints). Unsigned which is customary in shunga and attributed to Eizan.
Please contact the gallery for an uncensored picture.
£1100