Chōkyōsai Eiri (鳥橋斎栄里) (artist 1790s)
Rape scene (shunga)
ca 1790
10 in x 14.875 in (Overall dimensions) color woodblock print
British Museum - click on the sixth example
British Museum - Utamaro's 1788 inspiration for this print Among the most famous early shunga prints is this rape scene, illustrated in Richard Lane's Images of the Floating World, page 217, no. 21.
While in truth the scene being display is a rape, Richard Lane said of it that it was "...a slightly comic tableau featuring a middle-aged lackey attempting to forcibly seduce a servant girl of the same domicile."
The general nature and pose of this print was inspired by a 1788 print by Utamaro. In that print the woman is biting the arm of her attacker and saying: "Let got of me Rihei, you old fool!" He responds with an order to just keep quiet and remain still.
Physical violence is rare in Japanese erotic at this time. The attackers were always portrayed as ugly and gross.
erotic prints (shunga - 春画) (genre)