Kiyonaga: Two geishas with a shamisen
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Torii Kiyonaga (1752-1815)

Two geishas with a shamisen. Above a haiku poem about the slender branches of the willows.

Signature: Kiyonaga ga

Size: Hashira-e, 69,8 x 11,7 cm

Date: ca. 1780

Very good impression. Colours as often partly faded. Only minimal trimming. Age patina (folding traces, faint stains, surface dirt). Retains old backing. Overall very good condition.
Prints in this long narrow hashira size ("pillar print") were much more frequently trimmed, mounted and worn than other formats.
A very rare print.

MFA Boston, Bigelow Coll., No. 11.25139 (Colour variant), with a transcription of the poem. Also illustrated in Pins, The Japanese Pillar Print, No. 665.

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