1895 - Hokusai Shunga woodblock print - Doggy-See, Doggy-Do
Authentic Meiji period, c.1895, Japanese erotic art shunga woodblock print picture by an artist of the Hokusai School. This shunga woodblock print comes from a rare and highly collectible series of 12 shunga designs that has remained particularly popular among collectors, no doubt due in part to its incredible resemblance to the work of the master himself—Hokusai. The artist has never been conclusively identified, although some have suggested Ikeda Terukata as a possible attribution.
Shunga picture measures 26.7 cm x 21.7 cm. Very good colors and impressions, along with the deluxe printing technique, urushi-e (black lacquer), beautifully highlighting the figures' hair.
Condition is good with some light wear, pink dye marking, and vertical center fold with slight separation at the bottom/top of it. Album backing on reverse. Please see and judge from photos.
Doggy-See, Doggy-Do — A wonderfully humorous shunga scene depicting two couples making love while a pair of dogs mimic their amorous behavior. The composition strongly recalls Hokusai's famous c.1822 design from En-musubi Izumo no sugi (The Horny God of Izumo), in which copulating dogs comically imitate the human lovers nearby. The obvious reference to this celebrated Hokusai composition provides yet another intriguing connection between this rare Meiji-period series and the work of the great master himself.
