JAPANESE ART > UKIYO-E WOODBLOCK PRINTS > THE FLOWER TOWNS

Lot 00433
N.1 triptych of ukiyo-e woodblock prints

Utagawa Kunisada II

THE FLOWER TOWNS

Year: 1872
Condition: good
Size: 74 x 35,5 cm

SOLD

Precious triptych of original 19th-century woodblock prints depicting twenty-one musicians, dancers, entertainers and young apprentices from the "flower towns" (花街) of Tokyo, a euphemism used to indicate the geisha (芸者) districts and that, in this case, refers to the neighborhoods of Nihonbashi (日本橋), Nakabashi (中橋), Yanagibashi (柳橋), Yoshicho (芳町), Shin Yoshiwara (新吉原), Yotsuya (四ツ谷) and Matsuicho (松井町).

The work, printed in 1872 by the publisher Itoya Shobei (糸屋庄兵衛), was made by the artist Utagawa Kunisada II (二代目歌川国貞) and is titled "Anthology of Famous Songs of the Prosperous City of the East" (東盛銘唄撰).

The prints on Japanese washi paper (和紙), despite the right signs of aging, are in good general condition.

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