Utamaro -- "Prelude to Desire -- #M"

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(Click HERE for additional image)
Artist Utamaro (KITAGAWA)
(1753-1806)
Title "Prelude to Desire -- #M"
Date 1799;
(Later ca1890-1910 printing from recarved block-set.)
Series "The Prelude to Desire"
("Negal no Itoguchi")
Publisher Privately printed.
Seal, Carver/Printer na
Image Size 9 7/8 x 14 1/8
Impression Very Fine.
Skillfully executed "bokashi" shading; light "gauffrage"
(embosssing) to kimonos and body areas; "burnishing" to hair; crisp "key-lines," highly detailed carving.
Condition Very Good+++.
Excellent colors.
(Vertical centerfold/adjacent light creasing; paper residues left/right verso edges; light toning; few scattered marks.)
(VIEW representative verso.) Quite clean for "shunga."
Reference/Illus na
Comments From Utamaro's wonderful 1799 "The Prelude to Desire" series. Exquisitely printed with much attention to details and printing quality. Full-sized "shunga" prints by Utamaro are both highly desirable and difficult to locate.
Item # EG-754
Price $295 (Sold/MW)