GEESE DESCENDING ON THE KOTO (Suzuki Harunobu)

N.1 fukkoku woodblock print
Period: 1970s
Condition: very good
Size: 23 x 32 cm

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Description

Two young women, looking like sisters, are sitting next to a koto (箏) zither. The older one is putting on the finger picks to play, the younger one is turning the pages of a music book. Behind the sliding door, a spray of bush clover announces the arrival of autumn.

The work, printed for the first time in 1766, is taken from the series “Eight Views of the Parlor” (坐鋪八景) by the famous artist Suzuki Harunobu (鈴木春信) and is entitled “Descending Geese of the Koto Bridges” (琴路の落雁), since the bridges of the musical instrument create the appearance of a row of geese descending for the evening.

The print is presented here in a 1970s fine woodblock reproduction on Japanese washi paper (和紙) made, as we read in the seal on the back, by the publisher Takamizawa Tadao (高見沢忠雄) and is in very good condition.