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Tsukioka YOSHITOSHI (1839-1892)
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A triptych Goketsu kijutsu kurabe, “A competition Among Powerful Magicians.” Published by Masadaya, 1869. A compilation of well known sorcerers, wizards and magicians. From right to left: Iwafuji Tsubone, Senkanja Yoshitora, Orochimaru, Otomo Wakanahime, Madamaru, Sumizu Kanja Yoshitaka, Mori Soiken, Kusunoki Goma-hime.
Good impression, colour. Slight toning, otherwise good condition. Signed Ikkaisai Yoshitoshi hitsu, Ikkaisai Yoshitoshi ga, Oju Ikkaisai Yoshitoshi ga.
Status: Available
Price: £4,700
Tsukioka SETTEI (1710-1786)
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An original painting, sumi and full colour on silk, 38 x 12.5 in; 96 x 32 cms. Settei produced many illustrated books but after around 1765 turned towards painting beauties, courtesans and geishas. They are of the utmost refinement – the faces and limbs often delineated in red and their costumes embellished with gold. Settei is also known for his elegant shunga. A beauty looks towards a weeping willow. Painted c 1770. In good condition with an elaborately stencilled and embroidered mount. Details picked out in gold.
Signed Hokkyo Tsukioka Settei dzu and sealed o’Shinten.
Status: Available
Price: £3,800
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Katsukawa SHUNSHO (1726-1792)
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Two sumo wrestlers from the East Side: Kurateyama Yadayu (right) and Izumigawa Rin’emon (left) from a fine set of double portraits: 5 from the West Side, 6 from the East Side. No publisher’s seal but probably published by Toyoshimaya Bunjiemon (Bunkindo) c. mid 1780s.
Fine impression. Very good colour and condition. Signed Shunsho ga.
Status: Available
Price: £6,800
Utagawa KUNISADA II (1823-1880)
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A triptych showing Prince Genji in a boat with attendant page and a lady watching female awabi (abalone) divers called ama. These women were a great curiosity for the public and seen as rather risqué characters. Prince Genji was the protagonist of Murasaki Shikibu’s Heian-era novel The Tale of Genji. He was the second son of the emperor, and relegated to civilian life. Published 1865 by Maruya Kyushiro.
Very good impression and colour. Slight edge soil, otherwise very good condition. Signed Kunisada hitsu.
Status: Available
Price: £1,280
Ichiyusai KUNIYOSHI (1797-1861)
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A triptych showing the legendary swordsman Miyamoto Musashi (centre) battling Shirakura Dengoemon (left) and his henchmen. The story usually relates how a jealous Dengoemon plots to kill Musashi by inebriating him and locking him in a bath house without his sword. However, Musashi, wielding a huge broken beam, slays Dengoemon and his followers aided by Dengoemon’s daughter Itohagi (right) who has fallen in love with Musashi. Kuniyoshi, however, depicts the event beside a mill-stream and a large waterwheel. Seiran, “Clearing Weather” from a set Mitate hakkei, “Selection for the Eight Views.” Published by Joshuya Juzo, 1846.
Very good impression, colour and condition. Signed Ichiyusai Kuniyoshi ga.
Status: Available
Price: £3,800
Shibata ZESHIN (1807-1891)
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Signed Zeshin on last sheet with Zeshin seal. Other sheets with seals Koman and Shin. Comes with original paulownia box. In very good condition.
Status: Available
Price: £4,500
Utagawa HIROSHIGE (1797-1858)
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Fine impression and colour. This is the first edition with variegated cartouche. Slight centre fold, otherwise fine condition. Signed Hiroshige ga.
Status: Available
Price: £2,800
Utagawa HIROSHIGE (1797-1858)
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Fine impression with strong blind-printing on the fall. Slight fading and toning in margins, otherwise very good condition. Very large borders. Signed Hiroshige ga.
Status: Available
Price: £2,800
Utagawa TOYOKUNI II (TOYOSHIGE) (1777-1835)
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Fine impression and colour with colour in title cartouche well retained. Fine condition. Signed Toyokuni hitsu.
Status: Available
Price: £4,200
Utagawa TOYOKUNI II (TOYOSHIGE) (1777-1835)
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Fine impression and colour with colour in title cartouche well retained. Fine condition. Signed Toyokuni hitsu.
Status: Available
Price: £6,800
Utagawa TOYOKUNI II (TOYOSHIGE) (1777-1835)
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Fine impression and colour with colour in title cartouche well retained. Fine condition. Signed Toyokuni hitsu.
Status: Available
Price: £5,500
Tsukioka YOSHITOSHI (1839-1892)
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Very fine impression, colour and condition. Signed Oju Yoshitoshi hitsu.
Status: Available
Price: £1,580
Utagawa KUNISADA (1786-1864)
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Extremely fine de-luxe impression with mokume-zuri on the bucket. (There is a later edition lacking all the refinements.) Very fine colour. Fine condition. Signed Nanajuhassai Toyokuni hitsu, “Seventy-eight-year-old Toyokuni drew.”
Status: Available
Price: £1,280
Utagawa KUNISADA (1786-1864)
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Extremely fine de-luxe impression. (There is a later edition lacking all the refinements.) Very fine colour. Fine condition. Signed Nanajuhassai Toyokuni hitsu, “Seventy-eight-year-old Toyokuni drew.”
Status: Available
Price: £1,280
Utagawa KUNISADA (1786-1864)
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Extremely fine de-luxe impression with fine blind-printing on the hair. (There is a later edition lacking all the refinements.) Very fine colour. Slight soil on the hair, otherwise fine condition. Signed Nanajuhassai Toyokuni hitsu, “Seventy-eight-year-old Toyokuni drew.”
Status: Available
Price: £980
Kitagawa UTAMARO II (?-1831)
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Very good impression. Slight fading and minor soil and creasing, otherwise good condition. Full size. Signed Utamaro hitsu.
Status: Available
Price: £3,500
Kikugawa EIZAN (1787-1867)
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Fine impression. Very good colour. Slight creasing and signs of mounting au verso, otherwise good condition. Signed Eizan hitsu.
Status: Available
Price: £1,480
Utagawa YOSHITORA (Fl. c 1850-1880)
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Very good impression, colour and condition. Signed Ichimosai Yoshitora ga.
Status: Available
Price: £3,200
Utagawa TOYOKUNI I (1769-1825)
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Very good impression and colour. Album backing and several very small backed pin holes. Signed Toyokuni ga.
Status: Available
Price: £3,800
Utagawa KUNINAO (1793-1854)
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Fine impression and colour. Lightly toned. Extremely large margins. Signed Kuninao ga.
Status: Available
Price: £2,000
Toyohara KUNICHIKA (1835-1900)
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Very fine impression, colour, and condition. Signed Kunichika ga.
Status: Available
Price: £3,800
Okumura MASANOBU (1686-1764)
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One of the most influential and innovative print designers, publishers and painters. He is also credited with inventing the hashira-e as well as being the first to use multiple-block printing. A wide hashira-e (habahiro hashira-e, 24 x 6 in; 61 x 15 cms) showing the actor Sanogawa Ichimatsu I. Masanobu designed a number of prints showing this popular actor who started the fashion for the hisobi pattern on his costume which is now called the Ichimatsu moyo. Published by Masanobu c 1741. Rare.
Fine impression. Hand-applied colour: yellow, light red and light orange. Slight fading, otherwise very good condition. Signed Hogetsudo shomei Okumura Bunkaku Masanobu shohitsu, “Truly published by Hogetsudo and true brush by Okumura Masanobu” with seal Tanchosai.
Status: Available
Price: On request
Shotei HOKUJU (Active 1787-1818)
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Kai no kuni Saruhashi no shinsha no zu, “A True View of the Monkey Bridge in the Province of Kai.” An impressive wooden bridge spans a deep chasm. It was called the “Monkey Bridge” because the original rickety plank structure was so precarious that only an agile monkey could cross it. Hokuju produced a number of these westernised landscapes and this is one of the best designs. Published by Nishimuraya Yohachi, c 1815. It is also known with variant colour schemes.
Very good impression and colour. Slightly trimmed around and imperceptible centre fold. Signed Shotei Hokuju ga.
Status: Available
Price: £5,800
Utagawa YOSHIFUSA (Act. 1837-1860)
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A triptych showing the vengeful spirit of Akugenta Yoshihira in a giant ball of fire sending a lightning bolt down on Nanba Jiro. Retaliation for having been defeated and beheaded during the Heiji rebellion. (There are other explanations for Yoshihira’s revenge, but this is the most common.) The revenge takes place at the Nunobiki Waterfall near Kobe. The scene watched by Taira no Kiyomori. Published by Omiya Kyujiro (Kinkyu) 1856.
Fine impression. Very good colour although extensive oxidation. Edge crease on centre panel, otherwise very good condition. Signed Ipposai Yoshifusa Ga.
Status: Available
Price: £3,800
Attributed to Suzuki HARUSHIGE (Shiba KOKAN 1747-1818)
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A winter scene with a young courtesan on an engawa gazing at an upturned ladle resting in a water basin formed from a hollow tree trunk. Behind her a young beauty peers out through the shoji. The scene calls to mind the Bell of Damnation (Muken no kane) act in the play Hiragana Seisuiki where Umegae strikes the water basin with a ladle to produce gold coins. Harushige was the ukiyo-e go of Shiba Kokan, the first artist to try copper plate engraving and who studied oil painting and etching from books he saw in Nagasaki. For a time a pupil of Harunobu whose style his prints resemble. Extremely rare: I cannot, at the moment, locate another impression. Published c early 1770s.
Fine impression. Extremely good colour, the orange pigment partly oxidised. Possibly slightly trimmed left and bottom, otherwise very good condition.
Status: Available
Price: £12,000
Utagawa TOYOKUNI I (1769-1825)
An original drawing by the first Toyokuni. An hanshita-e diptych for a published set of triptychs with title: Yakusha juni tsuki, “Actors in the Twelve Months.” Shows the actors (from the left) Bando Mitsugoro III holding a pipe; Iwai Hanshiro V with an open book; Nakamura Utaemon III about to write a poem; and Segawa Roko IV with another pipe. They are compared to the months of the year, in this case July, the month of the Bon Odori festival and are also a parody of the Six Immortal Poets. The print published by Yamashiroya Toemon (active c. 1801-1817). In fact this set was published Spring, Bunka 6 (1809). Sumi on thin paper laid around edges onto another sheet. Some pentimenti and also shows the initial hurried under-drawing and with annotations for the finished print. Sold together with the two published sheets which shows the lanterns removed at top, the brazier bottom centre and other minor changes. In indifferent condition. An illustrated example of this complete triptych is in the Austrian Museum of Applied Arts.
The print signed Toyokuni ga. Original hanshita-e by Toyokuni I are extremely rare. Sold “as is” with all imperfections.
Status: Available
Price: £2,500
Hishikawa SORI (Active 1797-1813)
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An original painting, full colour on silk, 43.25 x 14 in; 109.8 x 35.6 cms. An early pupil of Hokusai (who gave him his name Hishikawa Sori in 1798, it previously being Tawaraya). Generally referred to as Sori III. Produced a considerable number of small surimono – some of which can be confused with Hokusai’s work. Shows a beauty with a monkey at her feet. There is a print closely following the painting published in 1906. Illustrated in Nihon ukiyoe hakubutsukan, ed., Nikuhitsu ukiyoe senshu gekan (Selected Painting of Ukiyo-e, second vol.) Tokyo: Gakushu kenkyusha, 1985, plate 193.
In very good condition. Signed Hyakurin Sori ga with seal Sori.
Status: Available
Price: £9,000
Ichiryusai HIROSHIGE (1797-1858)
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Seki and Kameyama from the chuban Muraichi Tokaido. The set of 56 prints published by Muraichi, 1852. Printed two-to-a-sheet uncut and probably from a complete proof set. Double censor’s seals Murata and Kinugasa and date seal 2ic/1852 top right.
Fine impressions with strong woodgrain showing. Fine colour. Very small binding holes in right border, otherwise fine condition. Signed Hiroshige ga on each print.
Status: Available
Price: £800
Utagawa KUNIYOSHI (1798-1861)
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Cao Cao (Jap. Shuso) and Pang De (Jap. Hotoku) in the Han river during the battle with Guan Yu. From a set of Chinese warrior prints: Tsuzoku sangokushi eiyu no ichinin, “Heroes of the Popular History of the Three Kingdoms.” Published by Joshuya Kinzo, c. 1836. Robinson S10.8 (although only known as a key-block proof). Rare.
Superb impression. Very fine colour and condition. As the day it was printed. Signed Chooro Kuniyoshi ga.
Status: Available
Price: £3,800
Kikugawa EIZAN (1787-1867)
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An early complete 5-sheet (pentaptych) design being a mitate-e of a daimyo’s procession along Kugenuma beach with Enoshima island and Mt. Fuji in the background. Harugasumi hana iki retsu, “Journey in the Spring Mist.” The regional feudal lords (daimyo) were required every alternative year to travel to the capital of Edo. This was a deliberately costly affair and secured their loyalty as they had to leave their families in Edo. In this design young women replace the daimyo’s retinue. Published by Kawaguchiya Uhei, 1811-14. Its rare to find 5 or 6-sheet prints complete.
Fine impression and colour. Light album backing, otherwise very good condition. Signed Kikugawa Eizan hitsu.
Status: Available
Price: £8,000
Matsumura KEIBUN (1779-1843)
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An original painting, sumi and very light colour on paper, 52.5 x 20 in; 133.5 x 51 cms. Keibun studied with his older half-brother Matsumura Goshun as well as Maruyama Okyo. At his best, the equal of Goshun. Noted for his kachoga, as here, showing a bird on a flowering branch and a gourd vine.
In good condition. Signed and sealed Keibun.
Status: Available
Price: £2,200
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Keisai EISEN (1790-1848)
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Kegon no taki, santaki no sono ikkei, “ The Kegon Waterfall, View of One of the Three Falls.” From a set Nikkosan meisho no uchi, “Celebrated Views in the Nikko Mountains.” Three travellers rather precariously perched on a ledge looking down at the fall. From a set of five prints: It was probably intended to be a set of three prints but another two were added, possibly with the intention of going on to emulate Hokusai’s waterfall set. Published by Yamamotoya Heikichi (Eikyudo) c. 1843-47. In contrast to Hokusai’s set, Eisen’s have a more muscular appearance. See: The Japanese Print: A New Approach, J. Hillier, Bell & Son, 1960, Chapter XVI, where Jack Hillier discusses Eisen and his landscapes and considers this set “… is perhaps the crowning achievement of his career as a designer of landscape prints.”
Fine impression. (Late impressions are not known of this set, probably due to not having the popularity of Hokusai’s set.) Fine impression. Very good colour. Slight edge soil, otherwise very good condition. Signed Keisai Eisen utsusu.
Status: Available
Price: £7,200
Utagawa YOSHIIKU (1833-1904)
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A fascinating triptych showing the backstage activities on the second floor of a kabuki theatre, Gakuya ni-kai no zu. Twenty-one actors are shown, mostly in their street clothes, together with assistants. However, on the right sheet can be seen an actor in full Shibaraku costume while the centre sheet has Ichikawa Ichizo III descending the stairs. Below is the actor Bando Mitsugoro VI in an onnagata role. On the left sheet can be seen another actor in an onnagata role applying his makeup. This is the bottom half of a hexaptych. Published by Izutsuya Shokichi, c 1861. This design is loosely based on the bottom half of a hexaptych designed by Kunisada in 1856. Rare.
Very good impression and colour. Minor defects, otherwise very good condition. Signed Yoshiiku ga.
Status: Available
Price: £1,800
Utagawa HIROSHIGE (1797-1858)
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Ushiwakamaru (Yoshitsune) defeats the priest Tankai of Shirakawa at the Gojo Shrine under a full moon. Hachikai, Gojo no Yashiro ni Ushiwakamaru Shirakawa no Tankai o uchitori from the set Yoshitsune ichidaiki no uchi, “The Life of Yoshitsune.” Published by Tsuruya Kiemon (Senkakudo) 1832-34.
Fine impression and colour. Very good condition. Signed Hiroshige ga.
Status: Available
Price: £950
Kawanabe KYOSAI (1831-1889)
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A fine original Kyosai painting, full colour on paper, 51.5 x 21.5 in; 131 x 54.5 cms. Shows Otafuku being carried across a river on the back of a blue oni. They look down with consternation at a red oni who has fallen into the water spilling his basket of mushrooms. The face of the blue oni takes on the appearance of Hyottoko, the male pairing of Otafuku. Known as the Goddess of Mirth, Otafuku is often shown with the Seven Gods of Good Fortune. There are various theories as to her origins and her face, in the form of a mask, has become ubiquitous. Kyosai was a draughtsman of great dexterity with a wild, often bizarre, imagination. Loved sake, sometimes painting under its influence. At an early stage studied under Kuniyoshi, then Maemura Towa and later Kano Chinshin before becoming an independent painter at 27. Adept at highly finished paintings but also produced a large corpus of spontaneous paintings.
In very good condition. Provenance: The inside of the lid on the box is signed and sealed by Mano Gyotei (Kyotei) who was Kyosai’s pupil and guarantees the painting. Sealed Kyosai.
Status: Available
Price: £8,500
Kitagawa UTAMARO (1753-1806)
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A beauty with a child on her back. Amagoi Komachi from a set Furyu nana Komachi, “Fashionable Seven Komachi.” Events from the life of Ono no Komachi, one of the six best waka poets of the Heian period. Published by Iseya Soemon, c. 1805.
Very good impression. Fine colour. Slight trimming, otherwise very good condition. Signed Utamaro hitsu.
Status: Available
Price: £3,200
Suzuki Jun NANREI (1775-1844)
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An original painting, sumi and very light colour on paper, 39.5 x 11.5 in; 99.5 x 29 cm. Nanrei was the consummate Shijo artist, much admired by J. Hillier who stated: “… if one wishes to study the Shijo artist par excellence with the gifts and the limitations that that title infers, it is Nanrei one turns to …..”(The Uninhibited Brush, J. Hillier, 1974, p. 306.) Born in Edo, he was a pupil of Watanabe Nangaku. He later travelled to Kyoto to best study under Azuma Toyo and Okamoto Toyohiko. Shows an Ise ebi, a spiny lobster from Ise Bay in Mie Prefecture which was a popular place to fish for them during the winter months. The kanji for ebi translates as “old man [of the sea]” because the bent back resembles an old man. Ebi is a symbol of longevity and is often served for special occasions.
Signed Nanrei with large unread seal. Poem above. Very good condition.
Status: Available
Price: £2900
Onishi CHINNEN (1792-1851)
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An original brush drawing, sumi on paper, 8.75 x 12.25 in; 22.2 x 31 cm. Another consummate Shijo artist. A samurai who studied painting under Watanabe Nangaku and Tani Buncho. He not only produced makimono and painting albums of great facility but also ehon such as Azuma no teburi, 1829 and Sonan gafu, 1834. Talking about this painting, J. Hillier in Japanese Drawings of the 18th and 19th centuries, exhibition catalogue, Washington D.C., 1980, cat. No. 105, p. 122 states that: “But it is under such duress that the innate skills of an artist like Chinnen is pushed to its limit: and the result can be breathtaking.” This is in fact an album leaf that has been expertly mounted by Paul Maruyama/Wills. Shows a reclining ox: a subject often tackled by artists to show their skill. Provenance: Ex Nathan Chaikin collection. Exhibited and illustrated in Jack Hillier, The Uninhibited Brush: Japanese Art in the Shijo Style, London, Hugh Moss, 1974, p. 321; Jack Hillier, Japanese Drawings of the 18th and 19th centuries, exhibition catalogue, Washington, D.C., 1980 and as above.
Large signature Chinnen hitsu with seal Sonan. In fine condition apart from the obvious fold associated with the album it has come from.
Status: Available
Price: £2800
Kobayashi KIYOCHIKA (1847-1915)
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An extremely unusual tall and narrow painting, sumi and light colour on paper, 55.5 x 4 in; 141 x 10 cm. Kiyochika was much influenced by imported Western lithographs and etchings and was an associate of Charles Wirgman (the English creator of the Japan Punch) and Shimooka Renjo (the early Japanese photographer). This is reflected in his woodcut views of Tokyo during a period of transition under the impact of Western influences. Shows the rear view of a lady walking, holding a large umbrella, under a snow-laden tree. The painting’s mount is made from momigami (kneaded paper) and has porcelain jikusaki (roller ends). Kiyochika concentrated on painting in his later years. Provenance: Sold by me in 1986.
Signed Kiyochika with Shin seal. Very good condition.
Status: Available
Price: £3200
Kitagawa UTAMARO (1753-1806)
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The ill-fated couple Ianoya Hanbei and Ochiya: the subjects of a famous double suicide in 1722 in Osaka. From a set Jitsu kurabe iro no minakami, “An Array of Passionate Lovers.” Ochiya was banished from the family home by Hanbei’s stepmother, Okuma. However, not able to live apart, they decide on their fate. Edoites were fascinated by these true-life dramas which were transformed into novels, Kabuki plays and, of course, ukiyo-e. Pubished by Nishimuraya Yohachi, c 1798. Provenance: Ex collection Walter Amstutz, sold Sotheby’s 15/4/1991, lot 137, page 240 of the sale catalogue. Rare: not listed in Yoshida, Shibui or the British Museum exhibition catalogue The Passionate Art of Kitagawa Utamaro, BM and Chiba City Museum, 1995.
Fine impression. Very good colour. Slightly trimmed around, otherwise very good condition. Signed Utamaro hitsu.
Status: Available
Price: £7500