Series title: Genji goshū yojō (源氏後集余情) Lasting impressions of a late Genji collection
Chapter: 46 – right sheet square cartouche – referencing in this instance the book ‘A Related Rustic Visage’ (Sono yukari hina no omokage) Chapter 8 frontispiece p 1 & 2 (1852) – the source of inspiration for this diptych
Title: Shii ga moto (椎本) – left sheet square cartouche – this is chapter forty six in Murasaki Shikibu’s book ‘The Tale of Genji’ Genji Monogatari (源氏物語)
Description: A woman raises her arm to fend off the advances of a young man holding a fan
Artist: Toyokuni III (Kunisada)
Siganature: Toyokuni ga
Date: 1859, 2nd month
Censor: NA
Publisher: Ebisuya Shōshichi (恵比寿屋庄七), ca 1846 – 1883
Block cutter: Yokogawa Takejiro
Size: Oban diptych, each sheet 36.7 cm x 25.2 cm
Condition: Fine impression, colour, and condition
Look for: As with all the prints in this series, it is printed on thick paper, and in this print you will see; over-printing, Bokashi (gradation), Karazuri (embossing or blind printing),Tsuyazuri – specifically shomenzuri (burnishing) printing techniques
Price: Not for sale
References: Genji’s World in Japanese Woodblock Prints; Andreas Marks p: 151