Katsushika Hokusai (attributed)
Katsushika Hokusai Attributed Ehon Futamigata, Edo Period Japanese Shunga Harubon, Erotic Art Woodblock Ukiyoe Book, Three Volumes, circa 1801
Katsushika Hokusai Attributed Ehon Futamigata, Edo Period Japanese Shunga Harubon, Erotic Art Woodblock Ukiyoe Book, Three Volumes, circa 1801
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A guide for this piece: about $1,939, based on the 10% US charge on the declared value of goods made in Japan.
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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
Good
- Giftable
- Mint
- Excellent
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- Good
- Honest Wear
- As Found
A Debated Masterpiece of the Erotic Book
Few erotic books of the Kyowa years are composed with such ambition, and fewer still arrive complete in three volumes. The attribution to Hokusai, argued by Hayashi Yoshikazu, keeps the book at the centre of scholarly debate. It is a rare chance to hold the question in your hands.
Best for: Collectors of Edo erotic books and Hokusai scholarship
Condition notes
Covers worn with losses; old repairs along the lower edge from the preface into the first volume, largely clear of the images. Plates retain strong colour.
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 complete set of three volumes of the erotic picture book Ehon Futamigata, published around Kyowa 1 (1801) and long debated among scholars, offered as attributed to Katsushika Hokusai on the reading of the ukiyo-e historian Hayashi Yoshikazu.
The Piece
Printed in colour from woodblocks for private enjoyment, the finest erotic books drew on the same designers and carvers as the celebrated single-sheet prints. Here every opening is composed with real ambition: lovers seen in close portrait against a page of flowing text, a hooded figure in black silhouetted against a bright interior, a waterfall landscape glimpsed beyond a folding screen.
The authorship remains open. Hokusai, Kitagawa Utamaro and Rekisentei Eiri have all been proposed, and Hayashi Yoshikazu assigned it to Hokusai. The Desk presents it with the debate stated plainly.
Details
- Title: Ehon Futamigata
- Attribution: Katsushika Hokusai, after Hayashi Yoshikazu; Kitagawa Utamaro and Rekisentei Eiri also proposed
- Date: published around Kyowa 1 (1801)
- Genre: shunga ehon (erotic picture book)
- Technique: colour woodblock printing on Japanese paper
- Volumes: three, complete, upper, middle and lower
- Plates: each volume with two half-page and seven double-page designs; twenty-one double-page plates in all
- Binding: traditional stitched binding with blue covers and title slips
- Dimensions: being confirmed against our archive records
Measured by hand; please allow a gentle margin of about 1 to 2 cm (0.5 in).
Condition
- Covers and back covers worn, with losses to the blue paper as photographed.
- Old repairs along the lower edge from the preface into the first volume, largely clear of the images.
- Toning consistent with age; the plates keep strong colour.
- Every photograph is part of the description.
Condition grade C (good, visible wear) on the Japanese scale; see Japanese condition ranks, explained.
Authenticity & Care
The attribution is a scholarly opinion, not a certainty. Store flat, away from light and damp, and turn the leaves with clean, dry hands.
Delivery from Japan
Packed flat by hand in Japan in discreet outer packaging 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. Continue to Shunga and Hidden Arts or read our essay on shunga.
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Collectors also search: Hokusai shunga ehon · Edo erotic picture book set · Kyowa period woodblock book
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