Kunichika: Ukifune

Toyohara Kunichika

Series; Fifty-four Modern Feelings (Matched with the Chapters of Genji), circa 1883 - 1884. Terrific woodblock from a series based on the 1828 novel "A False Murasaki's Country Genji," a parody of the famous "Tale of Genji." Kunichika has illustrated the chapters of the story with updated, modern beauties dressed in the contemporary fashions of the day.

A winter view with a beauty holding an umbrella while approaching a boat along a dock. One of the nicest designs in the series. 

Chapter 51, Ukifune, is one of the most frequently depicted scenes from the classic version of Genji Monogatari ('Tale of Genji'). This late chapter of the epic tale (with a total of fifty-four chapters) centers on the love triangle between Prince Niou (son of the Akashi emperor), Kaoru, (recognized as the son of Genji but is actually the son of Genji's wife the Third Princess and an affair with Kashiwagi), and Ukifune, the daughter of a governor who had a brief affair with Genji but is later seduced by Prince Niou. Classic compositions depict Ukifune in a boat with Niou who brings her to the Islet of Oranges in a heavy snow. This print depicts a fashionable woman, probably a courtesan, protecting herself from falling snow with an umbrella as she prepares to join another beauty waiting dockside in a small ferry, presumably en route to an assignation.

Publisher: Takegawa Seikichi

Engraver: Hori Gin,

Condition - This print with excellent color and detail as shown. Backed with Edo era paper. Slight toning and soiling.