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Torii KIYONAGA (1752- 1815)		Women of Yoshiwara and Flowering Peonies
		Signed:                      Kiyonaga ga Date:                          1787 Publisher:                Nishimura Size:                          oban triptych (c. 38. 5 x 25 cms / 15" x 10", each sheet) Impression:              fine Colors:                      very good (for an 18th century Kiyonaga print) Condition:                 very good (minor marks and flaws) Note: complete triptychs by Kiyonaga like this one have become VERY rare, - in most cases only individual panels can be found. ref. no.: # 581722 Price: € 10,500.00

Three courtesans, SHIZUKA of (the house of) Tamaya, HINAZURU of Chojiya, and KATACHINO of Ogiya are strolling down Naka-no-cho. The left sheet: Shizuka in a black uchikake is approaching a teahouse, accompanied by her two kamuro, one of whom is leaning against the bench. The kamuro are clad alike in black furisode. The mistress of the teahouse is seated on a bench with a pipe in her hand, receiving Shizuka. The middle sheet: Hinazuru in a white uchikake is walking toward Katachino with her shinzo and her two kamuro whose dresses, again, show the same cloth patterns as the one their mistress is wearing. A geisha in a white-striped green kimono is following them and looking back in order to talk to Shizuka. The right sheet: Katachino, her back turned three-quarters toward the spectator, is promenading toward Hinazuru. Two kamuro, dressed alike, and a yarite in a black kimono follow. Peony beds form a background of all three portions. The inscriptions from left read: "Shizuka of Tamaya with Tatsuta and Momiji, her kamuro / Hinazuro of Chojiya with Kocho and Tsuruki, her kamuro / Katachino of Ogiya with Shigeno and Makino, her kamuro" Reference: Hirano Chie, "Kiyonaga - a study of his life and works"; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1939; p. 402, no. 845, ill. pl. LXXII. Collections: Matsukata; Bigelow Collection in the Museum of Fine Arts

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