Kunisada: Battledore (Hagoita) Portrait with Handle of Omatsu (Sold)

Artist: Utagawa Kunisada
Title: Battledore (Hagoita) Portrait with handle
Date: 1862

Iwai Kumesaburo III as  the female bandit Omatsu. This work features exceptionally fine printing, with gauffrage, added mica and other luxury printing techniques. The actor is portrayed on a hagoita, or battledore, and to the side we see the shuttlecock. What is exceptional about this work is that the printed and attached handle is still intact after so many decades. Omatsu cradles a baby and looks up towards the spheres above her head, which may signify constellations. The hagoita is printed to look like natural wood in a way that emphasizes the real woodgrain of the block.

Condition: Excellent impression, color and condition.
Dimensions: ôban
Publisher: Hiranoya Shinzô
Literature: See Edo Tokyo Museum website for another example with the handle intact: https://ukiyo-e.org/image/etm/0191220410
Signature: nanaju hachi sai Toyokuni hitsu

SKU: KUS441