Description
Fine polychrome woodblock print depicting two bijin (美人) beauties at the genkan entrance (玄関) of an elegant dwelling from which they are about to leave. The work, made in August 1897 by the artist Miyagawa Shuntei, is taken from a series that, as intended by the author, should have been entitled “Flowers of the Floating World” (浮世の花) but that, following a play of assonances of the ideograms, was entitled “Flowers Full of Joy and Good Luck” (有喜吉之華).
Shuntei (1873 – 1914) was born in Aichi Prefecture (愛知県) and lived most of his life in Tokyo. He studied painting with Watanabe Shoka (渡辺小華) and Tomioka Eisen (富岡永洗) and was a prolific designer for book and newspaper illustrations as well as various series of woodblock prints. His most refined works are those that portray women and children.
The woodcut on Japanese washi paper (和紙), printed by the publisher Akiyama Buemon (秋山武右衛門), owner of Kokkeido (滑稽堂), is in very good general condition thanks also to an effective relining carried out on the back.
