The Scroll of the Sleeve (Sode no maki)

Details

Torii Kiyonaga (1752-1815)
The Scroll of the Sleeve (Sode no maki)
Twelve woodblock prints and a printed preface mounted as a handscroll
4 ¾ x 26 5/8 in. (12.1 x 67.6 cm.) each sheet
With lacquered wood box

Literature

Hayashi Yoshikazu and Richard Lane, Kiyonaga, Sode no shita , vol. 24 of Teihon ukiyo-e shunga meihin shusei (The complete masterworks of ukiyo-e erotica) (Tokyo: Kawade shobo shinsha, 1999), no. 4.

Lot Essay

The title Sode no maki literally means "Handscroll for the sleeve," suggesting that it can be carried around slipped inside the sleeve of a kimono. This set is regarded as a masterpiece of the erotic prints by Torii Kiyonaga. This work is unique for its strikingly long and narrow format. The lovers are cropped in a very dramatic way.
For another set from the collection of William Sturgis Bigelow now in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, image accessible online at https://www.mfa.org/collections/object/the-scroll-of-the-sleeve-sode-no-maki-277959

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