Description
Precious original woodblock print of vertical large oban (大判) format made in November 1857 by the artist Utagawa Kunisada (歌川国貞). The work is taken from the series “One Hundred Beautiful Women at Famous Places in Edo” (江戸名所百人美女) and is titled “Full Bloom in the New Yoshiwara” (新吉原満花).
The protagonist of the scene is a yujo (遊女), that is a woman of pleasure, depicted in full-length, as she moves away from a stack of futon (布団) mattresses holding a flap of her obi (帯) sash. In the top right inset, made by the artist Utagawa Kunihisa II (二代目歌川国久), a detail of the famous red light district during the cherry blossom season.
The print, produced by the publisher Fujiokaya Keijiro (藤岡屋慶次郎), owner of Shorindo (松林堂), despite the right signs of aging and the presence of small binding holes, is in very good general condition.
