JAPANESE ART > UKIYO-E WOODBLOCK PRINTS > TURTLE POURING SAKE

Lot 01000
N.1 ukiyo-e woodblock print

Kawanabe Kyosai

TURTLE POURING SAKE

Period: 1881-86
Condition: good
Size: 12 x 18 cm

SOLD

Funny polychrome woodblock print signed "Oju Seisei Kyosai" (応需惺々狂斎), that is by Kawanabe Kyosai (河鍋暁斎), the famous caricaturist nicknamed "The Painting Demon", and depicting a minogame (蓑亀) turtle of longevity who, as we read in the title on the right, is pouring sake to "Three Old Men in Formal, Semiformal, and Informal Styles" (三老人真行草).

The illustration is taken from the "One Hundred Pictures by Kyosai" (狂斎百図), a series that was first published between 1863 and 1866 by Wakasaya Yoichi (若狭屋与市), owner of Jakurindo (若林堂), and is presented here in an edition produced between 1881 and 1886 by the publisher Okura Magobei (大倉孫兵衛).

The print on Japanese washi paper (和紙), despite the right signs of aging including two small woodworm holes in the upper part, is in good general condition.

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