Suzuki HARUNOBU (1724-1770)

Click here to view image full size.

Shows the great beauty Ofuji at her shop, the Moto-Yanagiya, near the Kannon-do, Asakusa. She is shown grinding a powder with a mortar. A customer is seated near her smoking a pipe. In the foreground is a rooster. (The Tori no ichi, “Days of the Rooster” festival was held nearby.) Ofuji was the daughter of the owner of the tooth-brush store and their products are displayed on the left: toothbrushes, picks and packets of powder. Two boards behind her advertise Nioi-fushi, “Perfumed tooth-blacking” and [Shuchu]-ka, “Sake flowers,” evidently a side-line for her which were scented flowers and other shapes, crumpled, and which opened out in cups of sake. Ofuji was frequently depicted by Harunobu and Buncho, and later by Utamaro.

Fine impression. Very good colour and condition. Unsigned: Normally an unsigned Harunobu would indicate a calendar print in its first state, and the rooster point to the Rooster year 1765. However, it’s difficult to see where the months could have been hidden, so we surmise that it was published c 1769.

Status: Sold