Description
Elegant polychrome woodblock print of vertical large oban (大判) format dedicated to the sixth chapter of the novel “False Murasaki and a Country Genji” (偐紫田舎源氏) entitled “Suetsumuhana” (末つむ花), the archaic Japanese word for the safflower.
The work, produced in January 1857 by the publisher Tsutaya Kichizo (蔦屋吉蔵), owner of Koeido (紅英堂), is taken from the series “Lady Murasaki’s Genji Cards” (紫式部げんじかるた) by the artist Utagawa Kunisada II (二代目歌川国貞).
The print on Japanese washi paper (和紙), despite the obvious signs of aging including small holes, folds and wrinkles, as well as the presence of imperfections on the margins, is in overall fair condition.
