Shunga Painting

A Japanese Shunga or erotic painting.

The work of an anonymous Ukiyo-e painter, who stands out for his compositional exuberance and creative insights, from the late Edo Period (1840-1860) to possibly the beginning of the Meiji era. 

Sex was not a sanctioned artistic subject in historic Japan, thus most shunga were rarely signed for fear of punishment.  Paintings as this would have been commissioned by a Samurai or wealthy patron, who in turn used it to amuse his friends during convivial drinking bouts or as a prelude and visual aid for a night of pleasure. The erotic scene depicted in this painting could run from the playful to the philosophical.

Skillfully executed, this is painted on expensive silk flecked with gold.  Unlike wood block prints, these compositions are one of a kind, and given the materials and medium, allow for no mistakes during execution.

The painting was brought to an antique dealer in British Columbia by the granddaughter of the collector.  That gentleman had been in the Dutch Foreign Service and collected many oriental curios while he was stationed in the Far East.  According to family lore this painting was given to the grandfather as part payment for a debt that one of his friends was unable to completely repay in 1921.

Originally, several paintings were attached to a single fraying hand scroll.  They were separated and painstakingly conserved by Geneieve Baird of Baird, Rief and Associates.