KUNIYOSHI

** This is a scarce design by Kuniyoshi from a little-known series that rarely appears on the international market. The set is not recorded in B. W. Robinson's standard catalogue of the artist's work, and impressions are seldom seen outside a few museum collections. The impression is strong, with lovely indigo tones. The whole series is documented on Kuniyoshiproject under Untitled Series of Snow, Moon, and Flowers ** Artist: Utagawa Kuniyoshi (歌川国芳), 1797–1861 Series: Untitled series of Snow, Moon and Flowers (Setsugekka, 雪月花) Title: Tsuki (月) – "Moon" Subject: A beauty looking at the moon's reflection in the water Date: c. 1851–52 (Kaei 4–5) Publisher: Masuda-ya Ginjirō (増田屋銀次郎), seal Shiba Masugin (芝増銀) Technique: Woodblock print (mokuhanga), nishiki-e (polychrome) Format: Ōban tate-e, approx. [36 × 25 cm] Signature / seals: Signed Ichiyūsai Kuniyoshi ga (一勇斎国芳画); two censor seals; publisher's seal Condition Very good colour and impression with seals clearly readible. The paper is firm and subtle with minor toning and scuff. There are around 3 minor repairs barely visible on the frontside. Very good overall! Please check the images! THE PRINT Snow, moon and flowers (setsugekka) is one of the oldest groupings in Japanese art. It goes back to a line by the Tang poet Bai Juyi, in which he remembers the friends he shared these three seasonal pleasures with. In Japan the three became a standard set of themes for poetry, painting and the decorative arts. In the Edo period, print publishers often used them for sets of three beauties, one sheet for each theme. Kuniyoshi designed this set for Masuda-ya Ginjirō in 1851–52, in the last decade of his career. Each sheet shows one woman with one of the three themes: snow, moon and cherry blossom. The Kuniyoshi Project describes the Moon sheet as a beauty looking at the moon's reflection in the water. The set does not appear in B. W. Robinson's standard catalogue Kuniyoshi (1961), and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston holds an impression of the Moon design.

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