Original Japanese Woodblock Print – Utagawa Kunisada Toyokuni III – Courtesans in a Pavilion Overlooking Water – Edo 1856

Traditional original Ukiyo-e print, woodblock print. [This print is not a modern reproduction]

Print Type: Bijin-ga 美人画 (images of beautiful Japanese women)

Technique: Nishiki-e 錦絵 (Japanese polychrome woodblock print)

Artist: Utagawa Kunisada 歌川国貞, Toyokuni III 三代歌川豊国 (signed Toyokuni ga 豊国画, toshidama 年玉枠 cartouche)

Title: 文を読む遊女達
Fumi o yomu yūjo-tachi —
"Courtesans Reading a Letter"

📅 Publication Date: 1856, Edo period, Year of the Dragon, 2nd month 辰二

Publisher: Izuya Sankichi 伊豆屋三吉

Engraver: Yokokawa Takejirō 横川竹二郎, also known as Hori Take 彫竹

Censor Seal: 改 Aratame + zodiacal date Dragon, 2nd month

📏 Format: Ōban Tate-e 大判竪絵, 25 x 36 cm

Origin: Japan, found in Aichi Prefecture

About the Artist:

Utagawa Kunisada, who became Toyokuni III, was one of the greatest masters of the Utagawa school and ukiyo-e prints. Highly active in Edo, he dominated the popular image market.

His work covers kabuki actor portraits, literary scenes, feminine beauties, lively landscapes, and narrative compositions with refined colors.

His Edo period bijin-ga are particularly sought after for their elegance, sense of costume, and decorative richness.

Subject:

This print depicts an intimate scene in a pavilion open to the water. Three figures occupy the interior: a standing woman in a sumptuous kimono, a reclining woman dressed in a dark striped kimono, and a child in blue.

The composition opens broadly onto a lively river landscape: wooden balustrade, covered boats gliding on the water, houses with blue roofs, bridge, silhouettes of strollers, and dark pines on the banks.

The details of the feminine beauties and the landscapes are superb: traditional hairstyles, long kanzashi pins, kimono patterns, deep blue gradients, fine lines, and elegant contrast between the interior of the pavilion and the aquatic horizon.

The whole combines feminine grace, a slice of life, and an Edo landscape, with that gentle theatricality characteristic of Kunisada Toyokuni III's prints.

Condition:

Very good overall condition for an original print from 1856. Small traces of old framing on some edges, small binding holes on one edge (see photos). Very well-preserved blue colors.

🦝 Our Opinion:

This original print by Kunisada Toyokuni III is a beautiful bijin-ga: women in kimonos, a pavilion on the water, a lively river, and a magnificent Edo atmosphere. The framing and the riverside setting are superb, with a special mention for the blues and the hairstyles!

Kunisada's Bijin-ga are particularly sought after, and it's easy to see why! A beautiful piece of ancient Japanese art for collectors or Japan lovers!

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