Japanese Shunga

Oblong, 21 by 30 cm. With eleven paintings, each 17.5 by 23.5 cm. Each painting has a coupling, and they are wearing different robes in each one. And the man and the woman have robes on in each of the paintings, to varying extents, with the clothing not in the least inhibiting their coital dance. We aren't sure whether the artist was basing the man and the woman on the same persons throughout or two different models. In most, the bodies look as if they are fused together, and it's almost a puzzle to distinguish one of the partners from the other. Looked a certain way, the painting can virtually blur into an abstraction. The paintings are done onto cloth, which was then mounted onto the heavy card of a two way concertina -- a concertina that opens in both directions. The back of a panel with a mounted painting is left blank. There are twenty blanks, the first two, have gilt specks, with the balance nothing but some indistinct gray lines which might be watermarks. The cover for the concertina, both front and rear boards, is sheathed in a jacquard silk, with a pattern vaguely floral and within the flower devices, Japanese letter characters. Gold dominates the pattern, with red and green threads subtly differentiating some of the raised details. The front cover has a mounted vertical rectangle mount covered with fabric, a piece intended for the title, but here left blank. The concertina itself is housed in a typical Japanese oblong case which wraps around the concertina and doubles over on one side, the case, secured by bone clasps. The case also has a mounted vertical strip for a title, this one, of gilt-flecked paper, but no title was written. The edges of the case have typical shelf wear, and the blue fabric, a rougher silk, is some unevenness of its blue coloration. The silk cover for the concertina itself is immaculate, or close to being so. Within, light foxing mostly in margins, not affecting the paintings in a significant way. Concertina edged gilded. Concertina with rigid boards. Cloth outer case with bone clasps.

Seller Inventory # 19884

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Bibliographic Details

Title

Japanese Shunga

Publisher

Japan

Binding

Hardcover

Condition

Very Good

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Store Description

Antiquarian books of all kinds, with emphases on color plate books, decorative arts, foreign literature (German, French, Italian, Spanish), children's literature, philosophy, sporting (equine, hunting, shooting).

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White Fox Rare Books and Antiques
974 Cemetery Road, West Windsor, VT, 05089, U.S.A.

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