Good antique condition overall. The print retains sharp printed lines and well-preserved colors, remaining an elegant and highly displayable example of early nineteenth-century ukiyo-e.
This original late Edo-period woodblock print was created between 1801 and 1804 by Kitagawa Utamaro (喜多川歌麿, c. 1753–1806), one of the most celebrated masters of bijin-ga (pictures of beautiful women).
The print is titled Hashiguchi – Bikuniya – Kinokuniya Okiku (はしぐち 美くしや 紀の国屋 おきく) and belongs to the acclaimed series Seirō Niwaka Onna Geisha no Bu (青楼仁和嘉女芸者部, Female Geisha of the Niwaka Festival in the Yoshiwara). It portrays Okiku, a geisha Kinokuniya house in the Hashiguchi quarter of Yoshiwara, shown in an intimate half-length portrait during the annual Niwaka Festival.
The inset landscape identifies Hashiguchi, one of the principal entrances to the famous Yoshiwara pleasure district, linking the sitter to her neighborhood. Accompanying the portrait is a kyōka (comic poem), specially composed for the print, reflecting the sophisticated combination of poetry and portraiture that distinguished Utamaro's deluxe editions.
Utamaro revolutionized ukiyo-e through his celebrated ōkubi-e ("large-head portraits"), abandoning idealized beauty in favor of expressive likenesses that captured personality, emotion, and individual character. His portraits of named geisha and courtesans remain among the finest achievements of Japanese woodblock printing and are considered masterpieces of the late Edo period.
Published by Izumiya Ichibei, this print represents the height of Utamaro's mature style and offers a fascinating glimpse into the culture, fashion, and artistic refinement of Yoshiwara during its golden age.
A beautiful example of Utamaro's celebrated bijin-ga, suitable for collectors of Edo-period ukiyo-e, Japanese portrait prints, and the art of the floating world.
