JAPANESE ART > ABUNA-E WOODBLOCK PRINTS > A BANQUET CELEBRATING CHERRY BLOSSOMS

Lot 00998
N.1 abuna-e woodblock print

Koikawa Shozan

A BANQUET CELEBRATING CHERRY BLOSSOMS

Period: 1861-64 ca.
Condition: good
Size: 25,5 x 22,5 cm

SOLD

«I wish to know whose dewy lodge it is / Ere winds blow past the bamboo-tangled moor» (いづれぞと露のやどりを分かむまに / 小笹が原に風もこそ吹け). Utagawa Kunisada (歌川国貞) quoted these famous verses from the chapter "A Banquet Celebrating Cherry Blossoms" (花宴), addressed by Prince Genji (源氏) to the lady of the misty moon (朧月夜の君), in his woodcut of the series "Genji Incense Pictures" (源氏香の図) and whose design the artist Koikawa Shozan (恋川笑山) was inspired by for the realization of the work presented here.

This elegant double page illustration is taken from vol. 1 (上) of the erotic book "Fifty-four Chapters of Floating World Genji" (浮世源氏五十四帖), made by Shozan in a period between approximately 1861 and 1864.

The print on Japanese washi paper (和紙), despite the right signs of aging, is in good condition.

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