Yanagawa Shigenobu I (柳川重信) (artist 1787 – 1832)
The courtesan Hanamurasaki (花紫) of the Nishi-Ōgiya (西扇屋)
ca 1828
10 in x 14.75 in (Overall dimensions) Japanese color woodblock print
Publisher: Senri (Marks U277 - seal 11-019)
Beneath boughs of fragrant prunus blossoms, the courtesan Hanamurasaki, of Nishi-Ōgiya in Shinmachi, Naniwa (the former name of the Osaka region - 浪華), wearing a kimono decorated with cranes in flight among stylized clouds and seated at a brocade covered desk, writing on a poem card. This sumptuous and elegant surimono style design does not seem to have been previously recorded.
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This print has the look and feel of a surimono, but is the size of a standard oban print. And yet like most surimono there are no censor seals because they were privately printed. However, it does have a rather odd publisher's seal, not firmly identified, in the lower right corner and that is something that surimono do not have either.
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Another copy of this print was sold at Christie's, London, South Kensington on December 17, 2013 as part of lot 44.
beautiful woman picture (bijin-ga - 美人画) (genre)
Kyōto-Osaka prints (kamigata-e - 上方絵) (genre)