Picture-book of Chinese Brocade (Ehon karanishiki)

Details

Kitagawa Utamaro (1753?-1806)
Picture-book of Chinese Brocade (Ehon karanishiki)
Woodblock printed book, 3 volumes (complete), published 1802, original covers painted with grasses and mist

Volume 1 comprising a two-page preface, a single-page illustration followed by seven double-page illustrations of erotic scenes and another single-page illustration, twelve single pages of text

Volume 2 and 3 each comprising a single-page illustration followed by seven double-page illustrations of erotic scenes and another single-page illustration, twelve single pages of text
Each volume 21.3 x 15.2 cm.

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Lot Essay

It is recorded that this was one of Utamaro’s most successful books. The preface was written by Shikitei Sanba (1776-1822), a writer of gesaku (literally ‘playful’ fiction). The term karanishiki alludes to Chinese brocade silk which was exported to Japan for trading because Chinese nobility could only wear their robes a few times and it could not be sold to lower classes in China.

See Chris Uhlenbeck et. al., Japanese Erotic Fantasies: Sexual Imagery of the Edo Period, (Amsterdam, 2005), p. 140

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