Shunga, Japanese erotic art

[rataplan]

Beautiful and refined prints from the Meiji period by Eisen Tomiaka (1864-1905) and Shuntei Miyagawa (1873 - 1914). From a recent auction.

[rataplan]

'The Pillow Book'

Late Taisho period (1912 - 1926) or early Showa period (1926–1989). Eleven from twelve prints shown. From a past auction.

[rataplan]

Not the Rembrandt of the genre, but a nice example of watercolored original shunga. Auction lot.

[rataplan]

Leporello album with 7 shunga paintings - Silk - Japan - ca 1900 (Late Meiji). Auction lot. Sold for € 160. Expert Estimate € 200 - € 300.

[rataplan]

Five scenes from a painted scroll by Sadakage Utagawa. A real master in expression and detail.

[rataplan]

Two leporellos from the Edo period.



While four couples make love, six remaining women are enjoying themselves. (Or wait for some attention?)
They control their desire temporarely with tissues and one satisfies herself with a harigata or tagaigata (dildo-like instruments carved from horn or tortoiseshell).




Twelve women(?) washing themselves in a public bathing room. But the last isolated figure differs clearly in behaviour and appearance.
Is she busy cleaning her tooth? Does it looks like she's hiding her body and doesn't feel comfortable at all? Is she not that attractive as the other ones and shames herself? That's why her skin color is different?

But maybe it's a male visitor? Mixed sex bathing was the norm during the Edo period. I would like to be able to read the Japanese text to get some mystery solved.

[deepsepia]

Originally Posted by rataplan

Twelve women(?) washing themselves in a public bathing room. But the last isolated figure differs clearly in behaviour and appearance.
Is she busy cleaning her tooth? Does it looks like she's hiding her body and doesn't feel comfortable at all? Is she not that attractive as the other ones and shames herself? That's why her skin color is different?

But maybe it's a male visitor? Mixed sex bathing was the norm during the Edo period. I would like to be able to read the Japanese text to get some mystery solved.

Reading this kind of Japanese script is tough. With printed Japanese characters are written out completely, you can use Google Lens to read them, but this is kind of scrawled, leaving out bits of a character, takes a lot of expertise

The odd character gets a darker skin tone -- Japanese regard men as "ruddy" and women as fair skinned (we do too, historically, in the West).

There are Shunga where you've got a guy who's leering at women in a bathhouse. . . that would be my guess here, but its just a guess.

[rataplan]

A loosely, but very accurately and masterfully painted leporello. Dated 1780 - 1800. I had to leave out one image.

[rataplan]

Some rare and unusual shunga from the Hosada school, probably Eishi Hosada (1756-1829) or his pupil Eishô.



Ageboshi - “A couple involved in a hasty, passionate bout of love-making. The woman still wears her hat (agebõshi). They are observed through the sliding doors by two courtesans ”




Artificial Vagina - “A couple is making love passionately with the courtesan sitting on top of her client. One of the male spectators (an older samurai) doesn’t hide his arousement and masturbates with an artificial vagina. His amused drunk companion (look at his eyes!) is drinking sake.”




Cooling Down –“During their chore two females are tempted by their male partners for love-making with varying degrees of success.”




Country Lads At The Brothel - “Two country lads are having sex with two courtesans in seperate rooms in a brothel.”




Courtesan Writing A Letter - “A bijin (beauty), holding a writing paper is looking for inspiration while eavesdropping on the love-making couple in the other room. In the background behind the couple you can see a koto (a traditional 13-stringed instrument).”




Forced Hand-Job - “Two mature couples having intercourse in two seperate rooms. The male on the left is directing the hand of his partner to his genitals.”




Homoerotic Scene – Bathhouse Scene – Anal Penetration - “Comical print with two seperate intimate encounters in a bathhouse. On the left panel a heterosexual couple is having sex in the hottub while a young janitor (on the right panel) is putting wood to the fire of the stove that heats the tub.*
He is desired by an unshaved older male who is about to penetrate him.”




Lesbian Women – Phallus-Headed Doll - “A dreamlike scene with two women (on the right panel) sitting in front of a doll with a phallus-shaped head while the left features a female couple making love using a harigata (dildo). The lady with the white kimono just revealed the doll with the red cloth she is holding in her hands. The purple clouds portrayed on the walls surrounding the two give the scene a dreamy atmosphere.”




Obtrusive Client - “In a kitchen an impatient man is making advances to a courtesan while the younger couple in the other room is less hesitant (look for the tipped over cup!).”




Palanquin (carriage) and Heterosexual And Homosexual Activity - “A heterosexual couple making love in a palanquin (normally used to carry daimyo’s during processions). There’s more sexual (homoerotic) acitivity underneath the blanket partly revealed by the sword one of the participants is wearing that is moving the blanket. The aroused man on the right side of the design who is leaning against the joist of the palanquin is an amusing detail!”




Peeking Men Watching Couple - “A man is penetrating his lover using a sexual device (artificial vagina) to enhance her pleasure. A group of horny palanquin bearers standing outside are observing them with great amusement. The woman wears a agebõshi (hat).”




Sharing Drink - “A courtesan and her client are sharing a drink while one of her colleagues lays underneath a blanket in the other room.”




Sleeping Courtesan - “A dream-like scene featuring a sleeping lady in a giant bed on the left of the image. On the other side of the bed an intimate couple is depicted. The folding screen in the background depicts an endless amount of waves surrounded by pink and red clouds adding a dreamy atmosphere to the scene.”




Stealing Cat – Masturbating Young Man - “An older man is making love to his younger wife (their sandals lay in the middle of the room) while a younger male has an orgasm and cums on the shells laying on the floor. A cat exploits the situation and steals a roasted fish.”

[rataplan]

'Shunshoku matsunosakae'. Four prints of a total of seven.
Bukiyo Matahira is the hidden name of Kunisada Utagawa (1786-1865).



Voyeurism is a common theme in Shunga, but here we see two women and a surprised man spying on a couple making love.




A woman lies comfortably ready while a lover prepares her vulva for penetration and guides her leg to his erection. A second, less attractive lover looks at her eagerly, awaiting further action.




After making love, the woman straightens her hair and holds tissues in her mouth to dry her sex, while the man already cleans his member.




A man watches as a woman collects water in her hands to cleanse her sex.