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KUNISADA I, Utagawa (1786 - 1865)	Printing (key-) block front: a sumo wrestler / au verso: a kacho-e design
front                                                 verso	Signed:                  Kochoro Kunisada ga Publisher:             Yamamoto-ya Heikichi Date:                       c.1840 Size:                       oban tate-e (39.5 x 26.5 cms / c. 15 1/2" x 10 1/2") Condition: A thin crack-line at bottom due to age, else very good condition. A VERY RARE item. ref. no.:              # 601797 Price:                 € 3,950.00  (sold)

This printing block of a sumo wrestler is from Kunisada's middle period when he signed his works 'Kochoro' (before - after 1844 - he used the name 'Toyokuni' - referred to as 'Toyokuni III'). Printing blocks of oban-sized prints have survived in small numbers only, and such depicting a sumo wrestler are among the rarest . As was common practice, the blank verso of such key-blocks were used for other publications, often at much later times than when the front was carved. Ours shows four small koban-sized designs on an oban-sized sheet, depicting a bird on a tree and a plant, as well as two poems. Title and signatures are still unread, - the date seal indicates that this design was ready for publication in the '11th month of the year ox' (11/1853).

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