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Kitagawa Utamaro (1753?-1806)
Five prints of beautiful women
Ohan of the Kikumoto tea-house (Kikumoto Ohan), from the series Famous beauties of Edo (Edo komei bijin)
Woodblock print, signed Utamaro ga, published by Kawa-Ju, circa 1792-3

Murasaki Shikubu: Bird; a design from the series Famous Women and Their Poems on Flowers, Birds, Wind, and the Moon (Meifu eika kacho fugetsu)
Woodblock print, signed Utamaro hitsu, circa 1805

A woman seated holding a fan, a design from the series Famous Women and Their Poems on Flowers, Birds, Wind and the Moon (Meifu eika kacho fugetsu)
Woodblock print, signed Utamaro hitsu, published by Izumiya Ichibei, circa 1805

Otoki, wife of Chohei - a woman standing holding a pipe in front of a screen decorated with a karashishi [lion dog], a design from the series Patterns for Puppet Plays: One Section of Bamboo (Ayatsuri moyo take no hitofushi)
Woodblock print, signed Utamaro hitsu, published by Nshimuraya Yohachi, 1806

Woman Cleaning a Pipe, a design from the series Twelve Physiognomies of Beautiful Women Representing Scenes of Famous Places (Meisho fukei bijin juniso)
Woodblock print, signed Utamaro hitsu, circa 1803
All vertical oban:
36.9 x 24.6cm.
37 x 24.5cm.
35.9 x 23.6cm.
38.4 x 24.4cm.
35.7 x 23cm.
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Lot Essay

The first is from a series of prints which show half-length portraits of beauties of the day with their names inscribed.

An impression of the first is in the collections of the Museé Royaux d'Art et d'Histoire, Bruxelles, illustrated Asano Shugo and Timothy Clark, The Passionate Art of Kitagawa Utamaro, (London and Tokyo, 1995), cat. 67

For an impression of the second in the Art Institute of Chicago, go to http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/22083?search_no=1=90

The fourth print is from a series showing famous scenes from joruri recitations in which women are the main characters. Ten designs are known, and this one is the scene Hanakawado from the recitation Hiyoku-zuka.

Another impression of the fifth print is in the collections of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, accession number 21.6511; go to www.mfa.org/collections

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