Antique Japanese color woodblock Utagawa Kunisada (1786-1865). Shunga (Erotic print). Date: c.1829. 
Obon yoko-e size: 13 2/3" x 10" inches. Series: 'Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter: Prospects for the Four Seasons (Shunka shuto shiki no nagame)'. Fine impression, color and very good condition. Some minor wear and soiling otherwise in a fine state.

“In ‘Shiki no nagame of 1827-9 by Utagawa Kunisada (1786-1865) there is a terrible scene in which a young woman has been captured by a mountain bandit and is being raped while her legs are tied to a pole. Rosina Buckland has previously commented that it is a general feature of this particular book that the scenes of sexual intercourse are lacking in affection between the protagonists, this particular scene being at the harshest end of the spectrum.“ (Excerpt from the article ‘Violence in Shunga’ by Higuchi Kazutaka [translated by Timothy Clark] from the book Shunga, Sex and Pleasure in Japanese Art).

Antique Japanese color woodblock Utagawa Kunisada (1786-1865). Shunga (Erotic print). Date: c.1829. 
Obon yoko-e size: 13 2/3" x 10" inches. Series: 'Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter: Prospects for the Four Seasons (Shunka shuto shiki no nagame)'. Fine impression, color and very good condition. Some minor wear and soiling otherwise fine state.

A superb scene from the acclaimed Four Seasons –series. In a bathhouse we can observe two females executing their esoteric activities.The crouching woman holds a small bag (Furoshiki) including soap between her teeth. She is doing her laundry while at the same time cleaning her vulva. The curved feet of her standing companion is in shunga an indication of sexual excitement.”

Original antique Japanese color woodblock by a pupil of the Utagawa school. Shunga (Erotic picture). 
Date: c.1900s. Chuban yoko-e size: 8 2/5” x 11” inches. Fine impression (with gauffrage and metallic pigments), color and very good condition. A slight vertical centerfold, slight paper remnants to the reverse but in a very good state overall.

Original antique Japanese color woodblock by Katsushika Oi (c.1800–1866). Shunga (Erotic picture). 
Date: c.1820s. Oban yoko-e size: 9 4/5” x 14 3/4” inches. Fine impression (with gauffrage and metallic pigments), very good color and condition. The usual, in this case barely visible, vertical centerfold, minor marks and flaws. 
Overall in a very nice state.

“A fine example of Katsushika Oi’s artistry combining some her father’s (Hokusai) favourite details such as the crumpled undergarment but clearly adding her own distinguishing style to the genre. The image features a courtesan entertaining a client. While she is sitting on his lap he is tenderly kissing her on the cheek. The round cartouche in the above left corner featuring flowers is a particular seasonal reference.”

Original antique Japanese color woodblock by Utagawa Kunisada (1786–1865). Shunga (Erotic picture). 
Date: 1837 (New Year). Size: 11 2/5” x 9 1/2” inches. Excellent impression (with gauffrage to the dog’s fur!), 
color and condition. Series: ‘Koi no yatsufuji (Eight Dog Heroes)’. Flawless state!

“Fusehine is having sex with the canine hero Yatsufusa, a small desk with writing implements and scrolls appears to the left. This superb design features a circular frame displaying the view of a “spy“ seen through a telescope.

On this design Timon Screech remarks: “...Bakin’s story included a moment when Satomi Yoshizane looked down from Mt Toyama and saw his daughter, Princess Fuse (whose name literally means ‘lying down’) is engaged in coitus with a dog – justified by Bakin’s title, although he had not written about real canines but about men with the character ‘dog’ in their names.

Original antique Japanese color woodblock by Suzuki Harunobu (c.1724–1770). Shunga (Erotic picture). 
Date: c.1769. Chuban yoko-e size: 7 2/3” x 10 2/3” inches. Fine impression, very good color and condition. Series: ‘Furyu Edo Hyakkei: Ueno no Bansho (Eight Fashionable Views of Edo: Vespers Bedmate at Ueno)’. Slightly backed, minor wear and soiling, marks and flaws.Some very small repairs.

“A couple entwined around each other watch the water lelies in Ueno.”

The poem featured in the above cloud is a parody associated with Mii no bansho (Evening Bell at Mii), which is one of theOmi Hakkei (Eight Views of Omi), a popular visual parody based on the classic Chinese theme Eight Views of the Xiao and the Xiang. A poem found on a Harunobu chuban from circa 1768 (Waterhouse, no. 316) shifts the 'Evening Bell' from Miidera to Ueno:

The poem on this shunga print also places the bell in Ueno but in a further erotic parody of the theme. The phrase 'iriai no kana' is replaced with 'ireai no ane'; and 'sho' for concubine replaces 'sho' for bell. The poem explains the young man is on his yadosagari, the annual break given to the samurai for home leave which was granted for a few days in the 3rd month and was typically either spent at home or at an inn. The Shinobazu Pond at Ueno was well-known for its lotus and for the deai-chaya (meeting tea-houses) which had rooms overlooking the pond.

Reference: on p.21 (Ill.6) in Japanese Erotic Prints (2001) by Inge Klompmakers.

Original antique Japanese color woodblock attributed to Torii Kiyonobu (c.1664–1729).

Original Japanese erotic color painting by a very skilled anonymous artist. Ink, pencil and color on paper. 
Date: c.1920s. Size: 9 4/5” x 7” inches. Very good state with some minor damage.

“A delightful scene featuring three young adolescents involved in a joyful threesome experimenting with each other.“

Original Japanese erotic color painting by a very skilled anonymous artist. Ink, pencil and color on paper.
Date: c.1920s. Size: 9 4/5” x 7” inches. Very good state with some minor defects.

“Lovely piece with a realistic rendering of a copulating couple on a mattress. Look for the special attention to the feet and the ecstatic expression of the woman’s face.“

Original antique Japanese color woodblock Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849). Date: c.1812-14. Size: 3 1/3” x 5” inches.
Egoyomi-e (Calendar print). Fine impression, very good color (Egoyomi-e were printed in very fugitive colors) and condition.
One tiny hole (tissue backed), two slight horizontal folding marks, some minor wrinkling and wear. Excellent use of metallic pigments and gauffrage.

“In this lovely and rare egoyomi-e in the typical Hokusai style a man penetrates his wife from behind.”

These unsigned miniature-sized surimono (commisioned print) called egoyomi (calendar print) were limited private editions for the aficionado’s of that period.

They were originally issued in sets of twelve prints, enclosed in casing or envelope which included the title, frequently the date and occasionally even the alias of the artist. The printing is exceptionally subtle, and in the use of pigments and techniques they are similar to surimono.”

> Click here for an extensive article database on ukiyo-e.

Original antique Japanese color woodblock by an important artist of the Hokusai school. Shunga (Erotic picture). 
Date: c.1818-22. Size: 10” x 7 1/4” inches. Very good impression, color and condition.

Series: Ehon kurabiraki. Some minor wear and soiling, two small wormhole and paper repairs.

“On the shore a needy samurai has kneeled down and is about to penetrate one of the dogs who accompanies him.In most cases sexual acts between humans and animals in shunga are used as a form of parody.

It was also a way for artists and their merchant patrons to poke fun at the higher-ranking classes.”

Reference: p.284 (Fig.50) in Japanese Erotic Art: The Hidden World of Shunga by Shagan Ofer.

Original antique Japanese color woodblock by an important artist of the Hokusai school. Shunga (Erotic picture). 
Date: c.1818-22. Size: 10” x 7 1/4” inches. Very good impression, color and condition.

Original antique Japanese color woodblock by Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849). 
Date: Originally 1814 (this c.1912 edition). Size: 8 2/5” x 5 1/2” inches. Fine impression, color and condition. Series: Kinoe no komatsu (Young Pine Saplings). Slightly backed. No marks and flaws. In a wonderful state with fresh colors.

 “A fantastic close-up design portraying the stimulation of the female genitals by a male partner.”

Description:

Original antique Japanese color woodblock by Tomioka Eisen (1864-1905). Date: c.1896-1899. 
Oban yoko-e size: ca. 14 1/3” x 9 3/4” inches. Excellent impression, color and condition. 
Barely visible, very slight centerfold, otherwise in a flawless state. Series: Yakumo no chigiri ( Poetic Intercourse ).

Publisher: Wada Tokutaro (owner of the publishing house Shin’yodo).The printing techniques are superbly executed with metallic pigments, gauffrage, urushi-e (black lacquer) and bokashi shading (tonal gradation).

“A truly gripping design with the realistic portrayal of a tied-down woman in a helpless pose while undergoing the lusty needs of her assailant. This is the masterpiece of the series !”

Some art critics attribute the series to Ikeda Terukata (1883-1921) but an attribution to Eisen is more likely since Terukata was still a very young man (15or16) when this series was published. The Poetic Intercourse –series is considered one of the best shunga series of the Meiji period and is treated in Shunga in the Meiji Era: The End of a Tradition? by Rosina Buckland and an essay called Shunga in the Meiji era by Timothy Clark in the book Shunga: Sex and Humour in Japanese Art, 1600-1900 (London: British Museum Press, 2013).

Reference: p.448 (Ill.39) in Japanese Erotic Art: The Hidden World of Shunga by Ofer Shagan

Description:

Original antique Japanese color woodblock print by Suzuki Harunobu (ca.1725-1770).
Shunga ( Erotic print ). Date: c.1760s. Chuban yoko-e size: 10” x 7 1/5” inches.
Series: “Senrikyu‘. Fine impression (with various gauffrage details), very good color and condition.
Some minor wear and soiling, marks and flaws. Very well preserved print and virtually full size.

“A delightful erotic scene by one of the greatest ukiyo-e masters featuring a young couple making love on a verandah during the evening. In the illuminated room of the house a silhouette of young woman peeking through the holes in the door is visible. A lovely detail is the adolescent girl giving the inexperienced boy a hand. In the background a wooden water basin can be seen.”

“The design has a striking composition with the horizontal line of the fench beautifully counterbalanced with the vertical lines of the verandah that betrays the great craftmanship of Harunobu.”

Original antique Japanese color woodblock print by Utagawa Kunitora (act. early 19th Century). 
Shunga (Erotic print). Date: c.1824. Size: 10 3/4” x 8 1/2” inches. Series: “Senrikyu‘.  
Fine impression, color and near fine condition. Some minor wear and soiling, marks and flaws.

“In this magnificent trick-print (shikake-e) we can observe a young man fingering his female lover in the open-air. When unfolded a spectacular scene appears featuring a horse performing cunnilingus on the same lady.” 

Kunitora was a pupil of Utagawa Toyokuni who was active in the early 19th Century.

> Click here for more bizarre shunga scenes.

Original antique Japanese color woodblock print by Utagawa Kunitora (act. early 19th Century). 
Shunga (Erotic print). Date: c.1824. Size: 8 2/3” x 6” inches. Series: “Senrikyu‘.  
Fine impression, color and near fine condition. Some minor wear and soiling, marks and flaws.

Original antique Japanese color woodblock print by Utagawa Kunitora (act. early 19th Century). 
Shunga (Erotic print). Date: c.1824. Size: 10 2/3” x 8 1/2” inches. Series: “Senrikyu‘.  
Fine impression, color and near fine condition. Some minor wear and soiling, marks and flaws.