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Utagawa YOSHIFUJI (1825-1887)		A Festival Scene: Crowd carrying a mikoshi (a portable shrine)* - Preliminary sketches for a woodblock print -  for details pls. read the info text below.
		Preparatory brush drawings; sumi (black ink) on paper. Date:                   c. 1860 Size of sheets:     c. 23 x 25 cms / c. 9" x 10", each drawing. Condition:  Mint. A rare combination of a work in progress in two degrees of completion! - - Both drawings are signed by the artist ! - Ref. no.: # 761635 Price:  € 1,900.00

A first version (shita-e) of a preliminary sketch for a woodblock print (left), and the (almost) finished version (hanshita-e) at right, - the latter ready to be handed over to the block cutter and then printer. The shita-e at left reveals another, earlier version, - executed in very thin, tender outlines in black ink -, underneath the more final sketch painted in broader brush strokes. Note the diagonal and horizontal help lines in this first version of the drawing which serve to meet the right perspective. The almost finished drawing at right, the hanshita-e, shows that all the elements of the shita-e are entirely worked out. Both drawings are already signed (!) by the artist, which may indicate a near publication date. - * A mikoshi (portable shrine) has a curved, richly decorated roof. During the shrine festivals (matsuri) these "palanquins of the gods" are carried by men snd women with the help of two to six support beams. The porters brace themselves against the beams, and carry it through the streets with loud, rhythmic calls.

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