Kuniyoshi: Tanuki Giga-e (Sold)

Artist: Utagawa Kuniyoshi
Title: Tanuki Giga-e
Date: ca. 1842

Two scenes of the rascal tanuki, who supposedly had the ability to enlarge their scrotums at will. Above there is an attraction of sorts (Tanuki no kokintama), with numerous fashionable tanuki coming to see what seems to be a tanuki with a very small male appendage. They drape their oversized elements about themselves with a studied elegance. Below is shown a tanuki getting his oversized nether regions painted in an imitation of a good luck Daruma doll (Tanuki no doke Daruma). Tanuki are also called “raccoon dogs”

Condition: Very good impression and color. Repairs along edges.
Dimensions: ôban
Publisher: Kadzusa-ya Iwazo
Literature: Shown in numerous Japanese publications. See Robinson’s 1961 V&A catalog, number 209.
Seal: Yoshi paulownia seal
Signature: Ichiyusai Kuniyoshi giga

SKU: KUY253