Yashima GAKUTEI (active 1815-1852)

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A surimono showing a Chinese lady threading a needle on a balcony. First issued in Osaka for the Drum Group, c 1824. This is the excessively rare first edition with the blue sky and clouds; verses by two Osaka poets, and the coloured thread is connected to the spool on the floor. Another genuine impression is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, accession number JP2090. In the second state the verses are replaced by Edo poets. In the third state the blue sky is replaced with a gold ground and there is a hand-stamped title. There are clever copies of this surimono produced in the 1890s. This is possibly the only other genuine impression of the first edition extant.

Fine impression and colour with areas of gold. Fine condition. Signed Gakutei Sadaoka hitsu. Ex Hayashi collection, seal bottom right.

Status: Sold