Late Edo Period Japanese Shunga Harubon with Hidden Lift-Flap, Erotic Art Colour Woodblock Ukiyoe Book, Tea Ceremony Theme, Miniature Orihon Album
Late Edo Period Japanese Shunga Harubon with Hidden Lift-Flap, Erotic Art Colour Woodblock Ukiyoe Book, Tea Ceremony Theme, Miniature Orihon Album
- Dispatch
- Prepared and sent from Tokyo within 7–14 days, often sooner, or as arranged
- Arrival
- États-Unis · usually 4–7 days after dispatch, insured and tracked Check the Shipping Flowchart here
- Import
Duties and customs · View the estimate
A guide for this piece: about $311, 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 8.6 of 10 ·
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- Within one Tokyo business day · Ask the curator team
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- Authenticity guaranteed · How we grade
| Figure | cm | in |
|---|---|---|
| Width | 8.6 cm | 3.4 in |
| Height | 7.2 cm | 2.8 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
A Tea Gathering With a Secret
The album opens on a decorous tea gathering, a hostess whisking tea for three guests. Lift the panel and a far less formal scene lies beneath, and every plate that follows is named after a utensil of the tea room, from whisk and bowl to kettle and ladle.
Best for: Collectors of shunga curiosities, miniature books and the tea ceremony in Edo humour
Condition notes
Slight wear to the spine; otherwise no notable soiling, damage or worm. Fine, crisp impressions.
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 pocket-sized shunga album of the late Edo period, built around a hidden flap: a polite tea gathering that lifts away to reveal what the guests are really doing.
This piece belongs to the private room of the house and is shown to adults only.
The Piece
Shikake, the trick devices of Edo printing, delighted collectors of erotic pictures, and this little orihon (folding album) is a charming example. Its opening plate shows a hostess preparing tea for three guests in a quiet room. Raise that panel and a hidden scene unfolds beneath it, the joke on decorum that sits at the heart of shunga humour.
The theme carries through the whole album. Each plate bears a cartouche naming a utensil of the tea room, the whisk, the bowl, the tea caddy, the kettle, the ladle, the silk cloth, so that the tea ceremony's grave vocabulary becomes a playful index of lovers' encounters. The preface faces a still life of a feather brush and a small dark box. The artist is not recorded, but the printing is of real quality, with lustrous black ink (tsuyazumi), blind embossing (karazuri) and touches of metallic pigment.
Details
- Title: Untitled shunga album with lift-flap
- Artist: Not recorded
- Period: Late Edo, as attributed
- Format: Orihon (folding album), kohon size
- Technique: Colour woodblock with tsuyazumi and karazuri
- Device: Lift-flap opening plate
- Cover size: About 7.2 x 8.6 cm (2.8 x 3.4 in)
- Made in: Japan
Measured by hand; please allow a gentle margin of about 0.3 cm (0.1 in).
Condition
- Slight wear to the spine.
- Otherwise no notable soiling, damage or worm.
- Coins and a clear clip seen in some photographs were placed for discretion and to hold the album open; neither is part of it.
Condition grade B (very good) on the Japanese scale; see Japanese condition ranks, explained.
Authenticity & Care
Offered as a late Edo woodblock album by an unrecorded artist; the date is given as recorded and is not independently certified. Store flat in its folds, away from sun and damp.
Delivery from Japan
Wrapped in acid-free tissue in a small rigid box 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
Collecting shikake prints or miniature albums? Our Hunting Salon™ locates them across Japan's private collector circles, then inspects, documents and delivers them to you. Begin a Hunting Salon™ request.
Collectors also search: shunga lift-flap album · miniature Edo orihon · tea ceremony shunga
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