| Method | |
| Artist | Koikawa Shozan (1821-1907) |
| Published | c.1857-59 |
| Dimensions | Chūhon. 180 x 120 x 8 mm |
| Notes |
Woodblock printed book. Ink, colour, and metallic ink on paper. Fukuro-toji (bag-bound) binding Vol. I of III. 15 pages. Decorative cover featuring the author of Tale of Genji, Murasaki Shikibu, a fold out showing Genji and female retinue on veranda, plum trees bloom, while some of the women view shunga, followed by four double page illustrations, one single sheet illustration, followed by a 20 page black and white illustrated erotic story. Deluxe printing throughout. Rubbing throughout, some bumped corners, some light staining, and some worm damage to upper tops of four pages not affecting the images, worm hole damage to back cover, binding has been restrung with linen thread. A Tale of Genji shunga book. Tale of Genji is the most famous literary classic novel in Japan knowledge of which was important to demonstrate proof of education. While the original tale is not pornographic, it was considered amorous and sensual. The first shunga book version of Tale of Genji appeared in the late 1600s in the unregulated shunga market and was aimed at those who could read the novel. After the 1722 Kyōhō reforms banning shunga and sexual content in novels, shunga continued to be produced underground. Shunga continued to provide sexualised content which officially available literature could not. Several new popular novels based on Tale of Genji were published in the early 19th century and the Tale of Genji continued to be an increasingly popular subject for shunga throughout the 19th century. It is thought that shunga books featuring Prince Genji were aimed at female readers. Shunga is the term used for the body of erotic imagery produced in Japan from 1600 to 1900. The term shunga means spring pictures, a euphemism for sex, and is one of several names for erotic material produced in Japan. Shunga took different formats: painted hand scrolls, painted books, printed books and albums, and sets of prints which were sometimes sold in wrappers. As prints they are one of the genres of ukiyo-e, or Floating World prints, which also include fukeiga (landscape prints), and bijin-ga (prints of beautiful women). Most of the major ukiyo-e artists produced shunga material at some point during their careers, including Utamaro (who produced more erotic books than non-erotic books), Hokusai, and Hiroshige. Produced at the same time as the introduction of full colour woodblock printing, shunga prints and books were made using the most lavish and complicated printing techniques, including gauffrage, metallic inks, mica, complicated printed patterns, and multicolour printing using a high number of different colours. Although prolific in its number and variety, shunga should be seen as more representative of the ideals of the ukiyo, with its emphasis on mutual pleasure, rather than as an accurate representation of Japanese attitudes and practices of sexuality. Shunga present an invitation to pleasure through the bliss of lovemaking and though largely heteronormative, they portray the full gamut of couplings, married or otherwise, often surrounded by lavish settings and objects of pleasure. Koikawa Shozan (1821-1907) was an Edo printmaker who worked in the Edo and Meiji periods and seems to have only made shunga prints and books. Reference: Paris. Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Département des manuscrits, Japonais 211 A (1-3). |
| Framing | |
| Price | £550.00 |
| Stock ID | 53268 |