p2811-p2831.Utagawa Kunimori I.

Utagawa Kunimori I 歌川国盛 (active ca. 1818-1843)

Shunga p2811~ p2831

Kunimori’s Series: A Critical Study of the Charmes of Women (c.1825)

This work was previously attributed to Utagawa Kunisada, but shunga expert Hayashi Yohsikazu (1972: 239) believes that the artist is Utagawa Kunimori I, a pupil of Toyokuni II (Utagawa Toyoshige). Each illlustration contains a shell with a scene from the Tale of Genji, with the accompanying verse to one side. The texts have been slightly altered to eroticize and to parody the Genji references.

The shells represent the popular pastime of kai-awase (shell matching), which consists of matching together bivalve shells.
There are 180 pairs (360 shells) in kai-awase; some have two matching pictures, others a poem and a scene from it. The player accumulating the most pairs is the winner.

p2811 - - US$ > Currency Converter. Contact Info >

Shunga – Kunimori I – Snowscene – c.1825.

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Description:

Original antique Japanese color woodblock Utagawa Kunimori I (act. ca. 1818–1843). Shunga (literally: ‘Spring picture’). Date: 1825. Oban yoko-e size: 13 1/3” x 9 4/5” inches. Fine impression, color and condition. Barely visible vertical centerfold. Minor marks and flaws. Series: Enshoku shina sadame (A Critical Study of the Charmes of Women).
In a wonderful state with magnificent use of metallic pigments and embossing.

“Impressive snowscene featuring prince Genji and a female lover who encounter a passer-by holding a large snow-covered umbrella. One of prince Genji’s hands betray his sensual intentions.”

You can find more info on this series above this page !

p2812 - €625 - US$ > Currency Converter. Contact Info >

Shunga – Kunimori I – Sneaky Prince – c.1825.

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Description:

“An excited woman gives the insatiable Genji access to her “private area” lifting her arm. A selfmade painting of the woman, featuring a bat flying in the night sky is standing against a bookcase in the background.”

p2813 - - US$ > Currency Converter. Contact Info >

Shunga – Kunimori I – Three Excited Female Voyeurs...Peekers... – c.1825.

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Description:

“Three aroused females sitting behind a folding screen on a balcony observe their beloved prince Genji who is watching at the moon. His weaponry behind his back.”

p2814 - €725 - US$ > Currency Converter. Contact Info >

Shunga – Kunimori I – Kissing – c.1825.

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Description:

“Superbly intimate scene with Genji passionetely kissing one of his female lovers. The shell-shaped inset features an aristocratic male preparing a meal in the open air. The foo-dog shaped copper handle on the kettle behind them is an amusing detail.”

p2815 - €685 - US$ > Currency Converter. Contact Info >

Shunga – Kunimori I – Tissues – c.1825.

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Description:

“Encouraged by some shungabooks (laying on the right beside them) they were reading previously a couple is engaged in an erotic encounter. The inset portrays an aristocratic lady sitting on a balcony during the fall.”

You can find more info on this series above this page !

p2816 - €625 - US$ > Currency Converter. Contact Info >

Shunga – Kunimori I – Rainscene – c.1825.

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Description:

“Prince Genji sitting on the front porch is approached by a female traveller and a male companion who are looking for a place to shelter from the rain. She is wearing a mino (a straw raincoat).”

p2817 - €725 - US$ > Currency Converter. Contact Info >

Shunga – Kunimori I – Foreplay – c.1825.

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Description:

“The insatiable Genji is preparing one of his countless loved ones for penetration while the woman awaits with a
desirous gaze.”

p2818 - €685 - US$ > Currency Converter. Contact Info >

Shunga – Kunimori I – Secret Masturbation – Turtle – c.1825.

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Description:

“A young female is stroking her private parts as well as her lover’s penis. A funny detail is the small turtle statue standing on the plateau beside them.”

p2819 - - US$ > Currency Converter. Contact Info >

Shunga – Kunimori I – Ecstatic Lady – c.1825.

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Description:

“Prince Genji is distracted while making love to a female partner who is leaning back in total ecstacy. Both are wearing tabi (toed socks).”

You can find more info on this series above this page !

p2820 - - US$ > Currency Converter. Contact Info >

Shunga – Kunimori I – Birds – c.1825.

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Description:

“Prince Genji is exploring the pleasure zones of his female lover. The sparrow depicted on the folding screen seems to follow their activities.”

p2821 - €725 - US$ > Currency Converter. Contact Info >

Shunga – Kunimori I – Nun Disguise – Shells – c.1825.

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Description:

“This design refers to chapter 18, ‘Matsukaze’, of the Genji tale, when a woman disguised as a nun hears the familiar sound of the wind in the pines (matsukaze) upon her return to her mountain village:

Mi o kaete hitori kaereru yamazato ni kikishinitaru matsukaze no fuku
Here at my old home, where I have returned alone and in a changed guise, I hear blowing through the pines a familiar sounding wind.

(Tyler 2001: 337)

In the version of this verse on the print – inscribed on the poem slip (tanzaku) to the far left – the word for mountain village (yamazato) is replaced by the word furosato. In addition to the more common connotation of ‘one’s birthplace’, furosato was also slang for vulva. The woman portrayed in the shell plays a koto (a type of zither) and the characters to her right read matsukaze. The couple in the main composition make love under a pine with various shells scattered in the foreground.”

Reference: p.209 (Fig.82a) in Japanese Erotic Fantasies by C. Uhlenbeck and M. Winkel.

p2822 - €725 - US$ > Currency Converter. Contact Info >

Shunga – Kunimori I – Relaxed Pose – c.1825.

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Description:

“A woman in a relaxed pose sitting on the lap of her lover prince Genji. The kimono of Genji features shells referring to the game kai-awase (see the description above this page!).”

p2823 - €725 - US$ > Currency Converter. Contact Info >

Shunga – Kunimori I – Horny Courtesan – c.1825.

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Description:

“An oiran (high-class courtesan) is kissing the hero of the Genji story while he is stimulating her private parts. The shell motif is featured in several spots in the design (for instance on the woman’s red kimono).”

p2824 - €725 - US$ > Currency Converter. Contact Info >

Shunga – Kunimori I – Fishmonger’s Daughter – c.1825.

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Description:

“A man and a fishmonger’s daughter, her tray of wares on the ground. Here the scene in the shell is associated with chapter 12, ‘Suma’, from the Tale of Genji. A rattle, presumably carried by the surprised girl, lies on the ground.”

Reference: p.209 (Fig.82b) in Japanese Erotic Fantasies by C. Uhlenbeck and M. Winkel

You can find more info on this series above this page !

p2825 - €725 - US$ > Currency Converter. Contact Info >

Shunga – Kunimori I – Aristocratic Hair Style – c.1825.

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Description:

Original antique Japanese color woodblock Utagawa Kunimori I (act. ca. 1818–1843). Shunga (literally: ‘Spring picture’). Date: 1825. Oban yoko-e size: 13 1/3” x 9 4/5” inches.Fine impression, color and condition. Barely visible vertical centerfold. Minor marks and flaws. Series: Enshoku shina sadame (A Critical Study of the Charmes of Women).
In a wonderful state with magnificent use of metallic pigments and embossing.

“A completely naked male of aristocratic heritage is making love to his aristocratic (look at her shaved eyebrows, black teeth and particular hair-style) female lover. Their insatiability is illustrated by the countless tissues surrounding them and the woman’s hair hanging loose.”

p2826 - €325 - US$ > Currency Converter. Contact Info >

Shunga – Shunga – Kunimori I – Rooster – c.1825.

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Description:

Original antique Japanese color woodblock Utagawa Kunimori I (act. ca. 1818–1843). Shunga (literally: ‘Spring picture’). Date: 1825. Size: 7 1/10” x 9 4/5” inches. Fine impression, color and condition. Some tiny pinholes (margin only!).
Series: Enshoku shina sadame (A Critical Study of the Charmes of Women). In a wonderful state with magnificent use of metallic pigments.

“A nice design of a rooster’s morning cock-a-doodle-doo.”

p2827 - €265 - US$ > Currency Converter. Contact Info >

Shunga – Kunimori I – Candelabrum – c.1825.

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Description:

Original antique Japanese color woodblock Utagawa Kunimori I (act. ca. 1818–1843). Shunga (literally: ‘Spring picture’). Date: 1825. Size: 7 1/10 x 9 4/5” inches. Fine impression, color and condition. Some tiny pinholes (margin only!).
Series: Enshoku shina sadame (A Critical Study of the Charmes of Women). In a wonderful state with magnificent use of metallic pigments.

“A meditative image of a burning candle.”

p2828 - €265 - US$ > Currency Converter. Contact Info >

Shunga – Kunimori I – Beetles – c.1825.

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Description:

“A peaceful image of two beetles sitting on a leaf above a stream.”

p2829 - €265 - US$ > Currency Converter. Contact Info >

Shunga – Kunimori I – Blossom – c.1825.

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Description:

“A charmingly poetic design with a tree in blossom with the shining moon in the background.”

p2830 - €265 - US$ > Currency Converter. Contact Info >

Shunga – Kunimori I – Branches – c.1825.

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Description:

“A tranquil design of a bush near a fence.”

p2831 - €285 - US$ > Currency Converter. Contact Info >

Shunga – Kunimori I – Butterflies – c.1825.

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Description:

Original antique Japanese color woodblock Utagawa Kunimori I (act. ca. 1818–1843). Shunga (literally: ‘Spring picture’). Date: 1825. Size: 7 1/10” x ”9 4/5 inches. Fine impression, color and condition. Some tiny pinholes (margin only!).
Series: Enshoku shina sadame (A Critical Study of the Charmes of Women). In a wonderful state with magnificent use of metallic pigments.

“Still life of two butterfly garden wall ornaments and a twig.”

You can find more info on this series above this page !

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