Shunga - Shunga is a Japanese term for erotic pictures. Some scholars believe that the first shunga were inspired by Chinese medical manuals. Shunga prints grew in popularity in the early 18th century and the production of shunga peaked in the golden age of the print period in the late 19th century. Many ukiyo-e artists did shunga in addition to their normal specialties. The works sold well and, often at higher prices than the normal genre. So, artists had an incentive to delve into the realm of shunga. Often of very high quality and with great sensitivity to the subject, the best artists produced shunga of remarkable beauty. Shunga were rarely signed as collectors in the field know. Some of the noted artists in the field were Moronobu, Hokusai, Shigenobu and the great Utamaro.

Beauties from Historical Shunga - These attractive okubi-e or large head portraits of beauties come from a multi-volume book written about historical shunga by Hayashi Yoshikazu. First published in the 1960s as "Ehon Kenkyu," it features separate volumes on shunga prints by major ukiyo-e artists. It was updated and released as "Edo Makura-eshi Shusei" in 1989. Some of these designs originally appeared as frontispieces to shunga albums. An interesting group, nicely detailed.

Artist - Hokusai (1760 - 1849)

Image Size - 7" x 5 1/4" + margins as shown

Condition - This print with excellent color and detail as shown. Some prints have a few creases or small spots. Please see photos for details. Generally in good condition overall.