COUPLE DINING IN YOSHIWARA (Utagawa Kunisada)

N.1 abuna-e painting
Period: 1868-1912
Condition: good
Size: 27,5 x 25 cm

SOLD

Description

Fine double-page illustration by Utagawa Kunisada (歌川国貞) depicting a lady of pleasure from the Shin Yoshiwara (新吉原) district who entertains her customer by cooking over a brazier some tofu (豆腐) supplied, as we read on the tray holder in the foreground on the left, by the famous tofu specialty shop Yamaya (山屋).

The work is a pictorial reproduction dating back to the Meiji period (明治時代) of a woodblock print made in 1839 for the erotic shunpon (春本) “Shunjo Niku Busuma” (春情肉婦寿満), that is “The Lustful Doors of Carnal Women”, a book made by the aforementioned artist under the pseudonym Bukiyo Matabei (不器用又平) in collaboration with the writer Enkobo Tsukinari (猿猴坊月成), pseudonym of Utei Enba II (二世烏亭焉馬).

The painting on Japanese washi paper (和紙), despite the right signs of aging and the presence of a slight folding sign in the lower right corner, is in good general condition.