JAPANESE ART > UKIYO-E WOODBLOCK PRINTS > THE HARVEST OF LEISURE

Lot 00541
N.1 ukiyo-e woodblock print

Utagawa Kunisada

THE HARVEST OF LEISURE

Year: 1844 ca.
Condition: good
Size: 25 x 35,5 cm

SOLD

Original large format woodblock print made around 1844 by the artist Utagawa Kunisada (歌川国貞) and taken from the series "Moral Instructions Grown in a Hedge" (教訓植附垣根ノ中). The work, depicting a bijin (美人) beauty while reading crouched next to an andon (行灯) lamp, is entitled "Kenko no Tsurezuregusa" (兼好のつれづれ草), a reference to the famous collection of essays "The Harvest of Leisure" written by the Buddhist monk Yoshida Kenko (吉田兼好), the most important writer of the Kamakura period (鎌倉時代).

The print, signed with the pseudonym Kochoro Toyokuni (香蝶楼豊国) and decorated in the upper left corner with an insert of lilies, is taken from a volume entitled "Shunseki Bijo no Yugaeri" (春夕美女の湯かゑり), ie "Beautiful Women Returning from the Bath on a Spring Night".

The work, despite the presence of some small holes in particular on the left margin, is in good condition, thanks also to a relining carried out on the back with another sheet of Japanese washi paper (和紙).

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