Kunisada I: Beautiful courtesans on a boat
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Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III) (1786-1865)
Two beautiful courtesans riding in a boat to the torii of the Miyajima shrine (aka Itsukushima shrine). In the background the ample shrine area at he sea shore. The image is surrounded by a opulent border suggestive of a western baroque frame.
Title: Aki no Miyajima (Miyajima in Aki Province)
Series: Kômo abura-e fû (Pictures in the Red-Hair, i.e. Western Oil-painting Style
Signature in syllabic writing : Konomi ni makase Kunisada egaku (drawn by request by Kunisada)
Publisher: Yamaguchiya Tôbei (Kinkôdô)
Date: around 1825
Size: Oban yoko-e, 24,5 x 37,8 cm
Very fine print with crisp colours and embossing in the clouds.
Margings a little trimmed, vertical centerfold as in most cases. On the left side a printer’s colour smudge, one backed wormehole. Margins with minor defects, bordure restored in one small area on the right margin. Considering the extreme rarity of this series, very good condition!
Illustrated in: Izzard, Kunisada’s World, 1993, p. 97, no. 38/2. Cf. MFA Boston, Res.49.87
€ 3.650,-