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Courtesan and Lover beside a Standing Screen, from an untitled erotic series


衝立の向こうに遊女と客 (春画)
Keisai Eisen (Japanese, 1790–1848)
Japanese
Edo period

Medium/Technique Woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper
Dimensions Horizontal ôban
Credit Line William Sturgis Bigelow Collection
Accession NumberRES.09.324.9
NOT ON VIEW
ClassificationsPrints

DescriptionOne of ten woodblock prints mounted as a handscroll, RES.09.324.1 to .10. The seal of Eisen ("sen" in a circle) is concealed in the background of RES.09.324.6, on the discarded green garment behind the lovers. Each print in the group has a different decorative border; it is unclear whether each is from a different series, or whether this is a single series for which the artist chose to vary the borders.
Signed Unsigned
無款
ProvenanceBy 1909, sold by an unidentified collector [or dealer?] in Japan to William Sturgis Bigelow (b. 1850 – d. 1926), Boston; 1909, gift of Bigelow to the MFA. (Accession Date: December 10, 1909)