JAPANESE ART > UKIYO-E WOODBLOCK PRINTS > DOLL FESTIVAL AT THE FOOT OF MOUNT IMO

Lot 00764
N.1 ukiyo-e woodblock print

Utagawa Toyokuni

DOLL FESTIVAL AT THE FOOT OF MOUNT IMO

Year: 1801-04 ca.
Condition: signs of aging
Size: 25,5 x 37 cm

SOLD

Rare original woodblock print made, in a period between 1801 and 1804, by the great master Utagawa Toyokuni (歌川豊国). The print is entitled "Imaginary Version of the Yoshino River Scene in the Play Imoseyama" (見立妹背山吉野川の場面) and is dedicated, precisely, to the play "Imoseyama Onna Teikin" (妹背山婦女庭訓), that is "Husband and Wife Mountains: An Exemplary Tale of Womanly Virtue", a sort of "Romeo and Juliet" of Japanese dramaturgy.

In the print, right panel of a triptych, we see depicted the attendants of the home of the widow Sadaka (定高), mother of the beautiful Hinadori (雛鳥), that is the female protagonist of the love story, while celebrating the Hinamatsuri (雛祭り) Doll's Day among the cherry trees that bloom on the banks of the Yoshino River (吉野川), at the foot of Mount Imo (妹山), in the ancient Yamato Province (大和国).

The precious print on Japanese washi paper (和紙) has right and obvious signs of aging as well as restorations.

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