Shunga Series - Kiss me slowly

Utagawa Kunisada - Shiki no nagame (4 Vol Special)

 Utagawa Kunisada Collection

Shunka shuto Shiki no nagame (春夏秋冬) 色の詠 (In Praise of Love (in the Four Seasons)) Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter: Prospects for the Four Seasons.

FORMAT: Illustrated book with 33 double page prints over 4 volumes plus many pages of text. Oban13.75 in,9.375 in overall dimensions.
PUBLISHED BY: ca1827-1829
NOTES: Four volumes exist of the Ehon: In Praise of Love, in the Four Seasons (Shunka shuto, Shiki no nagame).

'A TRULY REMARKABLE PRODUCTION, distinguished not so much for the designs, which follow a fairly predictable pattern of generally violent (not necessarily true) love scenes, portrayed with a coarseness all the more repellent on account of Kunisada's skillful realism, but for the amazing technical brilliance of the print-makers'. Quoted from: J. Hillier, The Art of the Japanese Book, London, 1987, pp.901-2.

This was an exquisitely painted book and would have been expensive to produce which may indicates that it may have been a commission by a wealthy townsmen. It is generally believed that the first two volumes (spring and summer) were published first, and followed by the last two volumes (autumn and winter) two years later. The final two volumes were titled simply Shiki no nagame.

Overview Vol One

COVER

TEXT

A couple looking at an erotic scroll. It is called the brushwood scroll (koshibagaki-zoshi), supossedly the oldest erotic scroll dating back to the 12th century.

PRINT2

PRINT3

PRINT4

PRINT5

PRINT6

PRINT7

PRINT8

Overview Vol Two

PRINT1

PRINT2

PRINT3

Hush! Someone is coming....

A couple under a mosquito net, summer.

PRINT6

Men of violence Are usually depicted as rough and ugly, here we have a woman being raped by a bandit at night.

Overview of Vol 3

TEXT

PRINT1

PRINT2

PRINT3

PRINT4

PRINT5

PRINT6

PRINT7

PRINT8

Overview of Vol Four

TEXT

PRINT1

PRINT2

PRINT3

PRINT4

PRINT5

PRINT6

PRINT7

PRINT8

PRINT9

PRINT10

All images can be seen at the British Museum