Ito Shinsui 伊東深水: Footwarmer (Kotatsu) Pre-Earthquake (SOLD)

Artist: Itō Shinsui (1898-1972)
Title: Footwarmer (Kotatsu)
Series: Twelve Forms of New Beauties 新美人十二姿
Date: 1923, January

A beauty is seen from an indirect view, an angle that also seems to emphasize her inaccessibility. Her luxurious, fluffy robe has been printed with several blocks to give it texture.  The dark robe contrasts against the brightly patterned quilt of the unseen footwarmer. She seems to be turning away to tuck herself beneath the warming quilt. Perhaps we feel the chill of winter in her deportment that signals to us remoteness, or perhaps she is just feeling cold and wants some contemplative time to herself. A scarce, pre-earthquake design. From a Japanese collection that was never framed. From the first and only edition; sealed verso, numbered 187 out of 200.

Condition: Excellent impression, color and condition. 
Dimensions: ôban 
Publisher: Watanabe Shozaburo
Literature: The female image: 20th century prints of Japanese beauties, 2000, p.56 plate 38; Andreas Marks, Seven Masters: 20th Century Japanese Woodblock Prints from the Wells Collection, 2015, See MIA, Harvard
Signature: Shinsui ga

SKU: SNI043