c.1860's

By Utagawa Toyokuni (1769 in Edo–24 February 1825 in Edo), also often referred to as Toyokuni I, to distinguish him from the members of his school who took over his gō (art-name) after he died.

Toyokuni I was a great master of ukiyo-e, known in particular for his kabuki actor prints, He was the second head of the renowned Utagawa school of Japanese woodblock artists, and was the artist who elevated it to the position of great fame and power it occupied for the rest of the nineteenth century.

Woodblock printing in Japan was a technique best known for its use in the ukiyo-e. Widely adopted in Japan during the Edo period (1603–1868).

Cropped; minor creasing.

360 x 265mm

R2,500