Katsukawa Shunshô (1726-1793)
Two lovers under the kotatsu blanket, the man almost completely hidden from view. At their feet a humping cat, outraged and screaming, who has just been driven out from the cosy warmth of the kotatsu.
From: Ehon haikai yobuko-dori (The Haikai Book of the Cuckoo)
Date: 1788
Size: Horizontal Oban, 24 x 36,8 cm (overall)
Excellent impression in very good colours, with the usual centrefold. Lower corners only slightly rubbed and soiled. Small collector's seal at the back side. Very nice condition.
One of the most beautiful, and probably the most famous image from this important erotic work by the artist. Very rare to find.
Ill. in Brea/Kondo, Ukiyo-e Prints and Paintings from the Early Masters to Shunshô, Genoa 1980, p. 291, fig. 423; Bibliothèque Nationale de France RESERVE DE-17, J. B. 582 (both in the present colour variant). Cf. British Museum, 2008, 3027.1; Ill. also in Calza, Poem of the Pillow and other stories. London/New York 2010, p. 202 f, Buckland, Shunga, 2010, p. 105, Ofer Shagan, Japanese Erotic Art. The Hidden World of Shunga, London 2013, p. 282, No. 16.45
sold