Utagawa Kunimori Ukiyo Genji Gojuyon-jo, Japanese Shunga Harubon, Erotic Art Colour Woodblock Ukiyoe Book, Middle and Lower Volumes
Utagawa Kunimori Ukiyo Genji Gojuyon-jo, Japanese Shunga Harubon, Erotic Art Colour Woodblock Ukiyoe Book, Middle and Lower Volumes
- Dispatch
- Prepared and sent from Tokyo within 7–14 days, often sooner, or as arranged
- Arrival
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- Import
Duties and customs · View the estimate
A guide for this piece: about $138, based on the 10% US charge on the declared value of goods made in Japan.
The final figure is set by US Customs and depends on where the piece was made and the kind of object it is. Many antiques over a century old carry no ordinary duty; most jewellery and leather goods add a single-digit rate.
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- Character
- Resplendent 8.2 of 10 ·
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- Authenticity guaranteed · How we grade
| Figure | cm | in |
|---|---|---|
| Width | 15.2 cm | 6.0 in |
| Height | 22.0 cm | 8.7 in |
Every piece is measured by hand, in centimetres as Japan measures. Please allow 1–2 cm (about ½ inch) for the give of the material and the hand that held the tape.
Where each figure is taken · View the plate
Object, sculpture and ceramics
Condition report
Very Good
- Giftable
- Mint
- Excellent
- Very Good
- Good
- Honest Wear
- As Found
Genji Retold in the Floating World
Ukiyo Genji moves the court romance of the Tale of Genji into the townhouses and gardens of the floating world, each plate framed in a patterned border and titled in a small cartouche. Clean, complete leaves and crisp colour make these two volumes a pleasure to turn.
Best for: Collectors of Utagawa school enpon and Genji parodies
Condition notes
Middle and lower volumes only; the upper volume is lacking. Light soiling from age; very little thumbing; no worm damage and no missing leaves. Fine, closely registered colour printing.
Grades, ratings and commentary are given to the best of our ability, knowledge and experience, and condition remains partly a matter of personal perception. What we stand behind without qualification is authenticity, truthful description and provenance, to the best of our knowledge. How we grade
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Two volumes of Ukiyo Genji Gojuyon-jo, a floating-world retelling of the Tale of Genji, with colour woodblock plates by Utagawa Kunimori and a text by Ryusuitei Tanekiyo.
This piece belongs to the private room of the house and is shown to adults only.
The Piece
The Tale of Genji was the great romance of the Heian court, and from the 1830s the Edo publishing world never tired of moving it into its own streets. Ukiyo Genji, a Genji of the floating world, belongs to that fashion in its intimate form: the enpon, a privately circulated picture book in which the fifty-four chapters become a sequence of love scenes in townhouses, verandas and moonlit gardens.
The plates are by Utagawa Kunimori, a designer of the Utagawa school, and the story is by the popular writer Ryusuitei Tanekiyo. Every plate sits inside a blue border patterned with the Genji incense emblems and carries a small title cartouche; the frontispieces pair a dressed couple with a lyrical title page, a round fan in one volume and a tray of blossoms in the other. The printing is fine and closely registered, with rich reds, greens and ochres.
These are the middle and lower volumes of a set of three; the upper volume is lacking. Both keep their original ochre covers with title slips.
Details
- Title: Ukiyo Genji Gojuyon-jo, middle and lower volumes
- Artist: Utagawa Kunimori, as attributed
- Text: Ryusuitei Tanekiyo, as attributed
- Genre: Enpon (shunga picture book), Genji parody
- Technique: Colour woodblock printing on Japanese paper
- Format: Two volumes, stab-bound in the Japanese manner
- Cover size: About 22 x 15.2 cm (8.7 x 6.0 in)
- Covers: Original covers with title slips
- Made in: Japan
Measured by hand; please allow a gentle margin of about 0.5 cm (0.2 in).
Condition
- Light soiling from age; very little thumbing.
- No worm damage and no missing leaves in the two volumes offered.
- The upper volume of the set is not included.
- The small coins seen on some plates were placed only for discretion in photography and are not part of the book.
- Every photograph is part of the description.
Condition grade B (very good) on the Japanese scale; see Japanese condition ranks, explained.
Authenticity & Care
Offered as a woodblock-printed enpon with plates by Utagawa Kunimori and text by Ryusuitei Tanekiyo; the attribution is given as recorded for the book and is not independently certified. The book is undated. Store flat, away from sun and damp.
Delivery from Japan
The two volumes are wrapped flat in acid-free tissue between rigid boards and shipped insured and tracked by EMS or an equivalent express service. Import duties and taxes, where applicable, are payable on arrival. Every sale is final; please ask anything you wish to know before you buy, and see our published policy.
Considered offers are welcome through Send an Offer, and each one is reviewed personally. Further pieces of the kind are kept in Shunga and Hidden Arts and in our archive of woodblock prints and classical texts.
Concierge
Hoping to complete the set with its upper volume? Our Hunting Salon™ locates such companions across Japan's private collector circles, then inspects, documents and delivers them to you. Begin a Hunting Salon™ request.
Collectors also search: Ukiyo Genji enpon · Utagawa Kunimori shunga book · Genji parody woodblock book
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