Keisai Eisen Shunga Woodblock Print, Yoshiwara Courtesan and Her Secret Lover, Late Edo
Keisai Eisen Shunga Woodblock Print, Yoshiwara Courtesan and Her Secret Lover, Late Edo
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A guide for this piece: about $234, based on the 10% US charge on the declared value of goods made in Japan.
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- Resplendent 8.2 of 10 ·
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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.
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Object, sculpture and ceramics
Condition report
Very Good
- Giftable
- Mint
- Excellent
- Very Good
- Good
- Honest Wear
- As Found
Eisen and the Yoshiwara Night
Eisen made the Yoshiwara courtesan his signature subject, and here she wears the full tate-hyogo coiffure bristling with pins while she slips away with her mabu, the lover kept apart from paying guests. The checked and hemp-leaf robes, the swirling water pattern and the bamboo glimpsed behind give the sheet the dense, decorative energy for which his late Edo work is prized.
Best for: Collectors of shunga, Keisai Eisen and Edo courtesan prints
Condition notes
A vertical fold crease at the centre; peel marks on the reverse where the sheet was once mounted; light wear and toning. No worm holes or tears.
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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A Yoshiwara courtesan crowned in tortoiseshell pins slips into the arms of her secret lover, drawn by Keisai Eisen at the height of his powers.
This piece belongs to the private room of the house and is shown to adults only.
The Piece
The courtesan wears the towering tate-hyogo coiffure of the highest ranks, its pins fanning out like rays, and a checked outer robe over hemp-leaf silk. Her companion is her mabu, the lover a courtesan kept for her own heart rather than for business, and the intimate scene unfolds amid swirling water-pattern quilts, a lantern and a glimpse of bamboo. Brushed dialogue in the upper left carries the couple's whispered exchange, as shunga so often does.
This design was among those shown at a shunga exhibition pairing Hokusai and Eisen in Shinjuku, Tokyo, in May 2026.
Art and Social History
Keisai Eisen (1790 to 1848) was the great painter of the Edo pleasure quarters, celebrated for sensual, assertive beauties, and he was also one of the most prolific shunga designers of his day. Shunga, spring pictures, were known too as makura-e, pillow pictures, and the theme of the courtesan's private love was a favourite because it set real feeling against the theatre of the Yoshiwara.
Details
- Artist: Keisai Eisen (1790 to 1848)
- Subject: A Yoshiwara courtesan and her secret lover
- Genre: Shunga (makura-e)
- Medium: Woodblock printed in colour on Japanese paper
- Period: Late Edo period
- Format: Single horizontal sheet
- Sheet size: About 25.5 x 17.6 cm (10.0 x 6.9 in)
- Signature: Unsigned, as is usual for shunga
- Made in: Japan
Measured by hand; please allow a gentle margin of about 1 to 2 cm (0.5 in).
Condition
- A vertical fold crease at the centre of the sheet.
- Peel marks on the reverse where the sheet was once mounted, shown in the last photograph.
- Light wear and toning; no worm holes or tears.
Condition grade B (very good) on the Japanese scale; see Japanese condition ranks, explained.
Authenticity & Care
Offered as an original Edo period woodblock print designed by Keisai Eisen, as described; the attribution rests on the design and printing seen in the photographs. Keep it flat and out of direct light.
Delivery from Japan
Shipped flat between rigid boards, never rolled, 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 ukiyo-e and classical texts archive.
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Collectors also search: keisai eisen shunga print · edo courtesan erotic woodblock · original yoshiwara shunga ukiyo-e
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