Kuniyoshi: Chapter 21, Otome (The Maiden) (Sold)

Artist: Utagawa Kuniyoshi
Title: Chapter 21, Otome (The Maiden)
Series: Ukiyo-e Comparisons of the Cloudy Chapters of Genji (Genji kumo ukiyo-e awase)
Date: 1845-46

Oshichi was the young woman who was executed for starting a fire in order to see her lover again. In some theatrical treatments written during the Edo Period, she is given a positive back story that exonerates her and transforms her bad deed into one that has good intentions. Here she is shown holding a lotus stem and watching from the unreachable eaves of a temple. She is posed like a celestial (Buddhist) being, a tennin, one that can be compared to an angel. In the inset cartouche are the feathered wings of a tennin.

Condition: Excellent impression, color and condition. Mint.
Dimensions: ôban
Publisher: Iseya Ichibei
Literature: Robinson S45.21.
Signature: Ichiyûsai Kuniyoshi ga

SKU: KUY409