Description
Original sumizuri-e (墨摺絵) monochrome woodblock print depicting a katsuo (カツオ) skipjack tuna and made, in a period between 1801 and 1818, by the artist Kitagawa Hidemaro (喜多川秀麿), pupil and collaborator of the famous Kitagawa Utamaro (喜多川歌麿).
In the upper part of the work, we read a haiku (俳句) poem: «At the end of the fishing line / the taste of a gold coin: / the first bonito of the season» (ひもはしに / 小判のあじや / 初松魚).
The rare print on Japanese washi paper (和紙) has an evident patina of time, slight fold marks and some small cracks and wormholes.