Description

Beautiful polychrome woodblock print of vertical large oban (大判) format depicting Yokogushi no Otomi (横ぐしのおとみ), a geisha (芸者) who had become mistress of the gang leader Akama Genzaemon (赤間源左衛門), coming back from a public bath in the night of the district of Genjidana (源氏店), in Edo (江戸), where she lived under protection after escaping the wrath of Genzaemon following a love affair.

The work, in which the character of the woman is played by the actor Onoe Kikugoro IV (四代目尾上菊五郎), was made by the famous artist Utagawa Kunisada (歌川国貞) and is taken from the series “Portraits from Hit Plays of Both Historical Stories and Modern Life” (時代世話当姿見).

The print, produced in September 1858 by the publisher Uoya Eikichi (魚屋栄吉) and by the carver Yokokawa Takejiro (横川竹二郎), despite the right signs of aging and the presence of small restorations on binding holes, is in overall very good condition, thanks also to an effective relining carried out on the back.