Utagawa KUNIYOSHI.1797-1861Wood (ki). Yadorigi. Dyptich.1852Woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper. Vertical ôban diptych. The two joined sheets: 352x485 mm, trimmed within margins. Signed Ichiyûsai Kuniyoshi ga (on each sheet) 一勇斎国芳画. Paired Nanushi Censor Seal: Kinugasa, Murata. Publisher: Sanoya Kihei (Kikakudô) (Japanese) Japanese Edo period 1847–52 (Kôka 4–Kaei 5). It is the central sheet and the left leaf of a triptych. Good condition.

A fine Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock print, depicting Prince Genji entertains two beauties disguised as Nuns under a tree in the rain, from the series Select Five Elements (Mitate go gyô, 見たて五行). In this series of triptychs, Prince Genji is seen with beautiful women is various stings. The series is listed as number 139 in Kuniyoshi by Basil William Robinson (Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1961). The individual sheets of these triptychs are each about 14 by 10 inches (36 by 25 centimeters), a size known as ôban. Chapter 49 is titled Yadorigi, which literally means “mistletoe”, but may also mean “sheltering”. Mistletoe is a woody plant, but the image is one of sheltering from the rain under a tree. Utagawa Kuniyoshi, the visionary of the fluctuating world, is considered one of the last great masters of the ukiyo-e.One copy at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, accession number 11.28745-7. See http://www.kuniyoshiproject.com/index.htm