Description
In Japanese culture, Hatsuyume (初夢) is the first dream one has in the new year. Traditionally, the contents of such a dream would foretell the luck of the dreamer in the coming year. It is considered good luck to dream of “ichi Fuji, ni taka” (一富士、二鷹), that is first of all Mount Fuji, secondly a hawk.
The rare illustration presented here is taken from an erotic shunga (春画) book made in 1781 by the famous artist Kitao Masanobu (北尾政演), dedicated to the premonitory dreams of women and entitled “Takarabune” (泰佳郎婦寝), a title that literally means “The Treasure Ship”, but which is written with a complex play on ideograms that can be translated as “loving couples peacefully lying down”.
The print on Japanese washi paper (和紙) shows evident signs of aging.
