Standing Up (Tachitori 立取),

19th century

Standing Up (Tachitori 立取)

19th century

Attributed to Utagawa Kunisada 歌川国貞 (Utagawa Toyokuni III 三代歌川豊国)

Woodblock print; ink and color on paper with string pins and paper lever

12.5 x 8.5 cm. (4 15/16 x 3 3/8 in.)

Gift of Israel Goldman

2007-163

Asia, Japan

Obverse with text

This piece is ephemera from the late Edo period, and is thought to be the work of Utagawa Kunisada, the most prominent designer of bijin prints of his era. He produced the figures for the triptych Gankirō Teahouse (2006-61a-c). Although the action of the Gankirō Teahouse is set in a Yokohama brothel constructed for the foreign population of Japan, it depicts the more public side of the entertainment business. In contrast, this small work, which would have been carried in its owner’s sleeve in an envelope, is a “spring picture” (shunga), or straightforward erotica. The fine design and color of the print is enhanced by its mechanical element and the detailed explanation on the obverse of the sex act portrayed on the front. Most famous print artists engaged in the production of shunga, which were never signed in order to avoid legal repercussions from the strict Confucian military government. Such prints are an important part of Edo popular culture, which took kabuki actors and skilled courtesans as its celebrities. The gadgety quality of this “how-to” print is also representative of the best of Edo material culture.

Japanese

Edo (Japanese period)

japanese printmaking styles, woodblock prints, prints

color, ink, paper

woodcut (process)

figures (representations), men, sex, women, eroticism