1964 After Kiyonaga "Woman After Bath and a Grandma Fondling the Baby", Full-Color Print

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A stunning large full-color Ukiyo-E Hanga print after original woodblock print "Genre Scenes of the Brocades of the East - … Read more A stunning large full-color Ukiyo-E Hanga print after original woodblock print "Genre Scenes of the Brocades of the East - Woman After Bath and a Grandma fondling the Baby" by Kiyonaga (1752-1815). Comes from a rare Collection of 24 Masterpieces by Kiyonaga. Produced & published by Shuei-Sha, Tokyo, in July 1964. Printers: Toppan Printing Co., LTD. Printed on one side. Attached at the top to a board of heavy textured paper, covered with lighter sheet of paper for protection, numbered 12 on the label on the front of the cover. Excellent condition - minor edge wear on the board and cover, never framed, ready to be framed. Copy of the commentary by Dr. Kiyoshi Shibui (below) in Japanese and English is included.

Overall (folded) 12.55"W x 18.20"H
Overall (unfolded) 25"W x 18.20"H
Image 9.95"W x 15.0.5"H

Commentary by Ukiyo-e Art consultant & editor Dr. Kiyoshi Shibui:
Signature: signed KIYONAGA
Printers: Unidentified
Date: 1785
In the possession of Mr. Kinosuke Hirose, Kamakura

The infant boy just given a bath is clothed in a bold patterned costume more of actors' taste. He is being cajoled by an older woman and is in an expansive mood. The younger woman has just taken a hot bath and is drying her ear-lobe. One can tell she is young matron. The older woman is her in-law. One can glimpse the typical family picture of the Edo merchant class in this every day subject. Edo (former name of Tokyo), originally made out of delta, is full of moisture, and humidity is sometimes uncomfortable. Hot bath is the best remedy for it and they have developed a public bath house where a foremost amenity in their daily life can be enjoyed. To protect the bathing place from stranger's gaze, a grass hedge has been set up waist high in the fashion of a two-panel screen, on which the mother's sashes and garments are laid about carelessly. The family taste smells some affiliation with the theatre. I would not be surprised if it was KIYONAGA's own wife and mother and child he was painting here. See less