Isoda Koryusai: Dangerous Print of a Young Couple and Peeping Tom (Sold)

Artist: Isoda Koryūsai (active ca. 1760s-1780s)
Title: Young man grinding ink and pleasuring a woman
Date: ca. 1772-1773

Abuna-e (dangerous print) from an erotic album that shows a young woman with her head down and a young man next to her. He is clearly reaching beneath her robes, and she has been overcome, perhaps with shyness or hopefully, pleasure. We see her bare legs beneath the low table and her red striped undergarment has been lifted up. The young man is rubbing an ink-stick on the ink-stone of a suzuribako with his right hand, which is probably a humorous hint as to what he is doing with his left hand. Adding to the eroticism is the glimpse of the peeping tom who is peering with interest through a tear in the shoji screen. Abuna-e are works that are often the first scene in an erotic (shunga) set, and are suggestive (dangerous) rather than explicit. The willow tree seen in the window might also have erotic associations. There is a splendid view out the window. 

Condition: Excellent impression and color. Very good condition. Creases along chain lines of paper and trimmed on right.
Dimensions: chûban 19.2 x 26.1 cm
Literature: See  page 105, plate D.1 in "Japanese erotic prints: shunga by Harunobu and Koryûsai" by Inge Klompmakers, 2001, Hotei Publishing.
Signature: Unsigned, as usual

SKU: KOY024