TATSUMI GEISHA (Kikukawa Eizan)

N.1 fukkoku woodblock print
Period: 1960s
Condition: very good
Size: 27,5 x 39 cm

SOLD

Description

Fine 1960s woodblock print, reproduction of a famous work made between 1815 and 1842 by Kikukawa Eizan (菊川英山). The female figure depicted is a “tatsumi geisha” (辰巳芸者) from the Fukagawa (深川) district in Edo (江戸). The peculiarity of these geisha was that they wore geta (下駄) sandals made of paulownia on barefoot with no tabi (足袋) socks but, above all, that they often took male art names and dressed in haori (羽織) men’s jackets: a reminiscence of the first geisha entertainers, who were originally males.

The work, originally produced by the publisher Izumiya Ichibei (和泉屋市兵衛), owner of Kansendo (甘泉堂), is entitled “Snow” (雪) and is taken from the series “Elegant Famous Places: Snow, Moon and Flowers” (風流名所雪月花).

The print on Japanese washi paper (和紙), made by the carver Kuga Denkichi (久我傅吉) and by the printer Noguchi Yoshio (野口慶雄), is in very good condition.