Property of a Private Collector
Suzuki Harunobu (1725-1770) | An amorous couple under a mosquito net (kaya) | Edo period, 18th century
Lot Closed
December 14, 01:05 PM GMT
Estimate
1,200 - 1,800 GBP
Lot Details
Description
Property of a Private Collector
Suzuki Harunobu (1725-1770)
An amorous couple under a mosquito net (kaya)
Edo period, 18th century
woodblock print, depicting a couple under a mosquito net (kaya), the mother partially emerged from the netting with a toy to amuse her child, the child squatting beside a small daruma and a lamp, a bamboo vase with two flowering sprigs on the veranda, published circa 1765-1770
Horizontal chuban: 20.6 x 27.4 cm., 8⅛ x 10¾ in.
Harunobu designed similar prints incorporating a mosquito net between 1765-1770. In one of these designs, a mother is shown emerging from the net of the kaya to reach out to her baby son. Another, in the shunga [lit. spring pictures] genre of erotic prints, depicts an amorous couple beside a man sleeping on his back. Here, both motifs are composed together, with the head of the mother similarly emerging from under the netting as she holds a toy to amuse or soothe her son.
For an example of a woodblock print depicting a mother partially veiled by a mosquito net and her child in the collection of The British Museum, museum number 1937,0710,0.38, go to:
https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/A_1937-0710-0-38
For an example of a print comprising of two lovers under a mosquito net in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (The MET), accession number 2007.49.265, go to: