Kuniyoshi: Couple being separated in a fight (Sold)

Artist: Utagawa Kuniyoshi
Title: Couple being separated in a fight
Date: ca 1840s

A old woman with an almost monkey-like face is held back by a bystander as she raises a club against a man who is on the floor. He holds her ankle and thrusts his right foot towards her privates--is it self-defense or is he trying to humiliate her? This would seem to be a public space, probably a vegetable market, as we see what looks like a bundle of daikon lower right. Men still in traveling garb react with shock and amusement nearby. There is the foot of an excised figure lower left, so perhaps there is more to the story. Preparatory drawing in sumi on thin paper mounted to a backing sheet.

Condition: Paper losses

SKU: DRW445