JAPANESE ART > ABUNA-E WOODBLOCK PRINTS > OIRAN READING A LETTER

Lot 00778
N.1 abuna-e woodblock print

Keisai Eisen

OIRAN READING A LETTER

Year: 1817
Condition: signs of aging
Size: 13 x 18,5 cm

SOLD

Refined okubi-e (大首絵) portrait taken from the second volume of the erotic book "Midare Gami" (美多礼嘉見), that is "Hair in Disarray", and depicting the close-up of a gorgeous oiran (花魁) courtesan reading a letter. In the upper part of this abuna-e (あぶな絵) "dangerous image", made in 1817 by the famous artist Keisai Eisen (渓斎英泉), we read a very detailed description of the private parts of this woman.

The inscription reads "Johin Sanenaga Shimariaru Bobo" (上品実長しまり有毬児) and outlines, in a very concise way and with a complex play on ideograms, the qualities of a vagina that, in the order in which the author describes it, is elegant, has a pronounced clitoris, is very enveloping and has not yet experienced the effort of childbirth.

The rare print on Japanese washi paper (和紙), despite the obvious signs of aging including stains and a small hole, is in overall fair condition.

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