Kuniyoshi: The Five Festivals

Utagawa Kuniyoshi: The Five Festivals (Go sekku no uchi, 五節句乃内)

This rare series shows beautiful women with insets depicting one of the five festivals.  The five festivals are Jinjitsu (January 7) Feast of the Seven Herbs or Mankind’s Day; Johshi (March 3) Doll Festival or Girls’ Day; Tango (May 5) Boys’ Day; Tanabata (July 7) Star Festival or Seventh Night; and Choyo (September 9) the Chrysanthemum Festival.

This print is the fifth festival:  Tanabata (star festival, いやおひ月)

Publisher: Ezaki-ya Kichibei

• Signed by artist: Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1798–1861)
• Date/period: 1840
• Material: ink on mulberry paper
• Size: 36 x 24 cm.  approx.
• Condition: Good color impression and condition, traces of aging, not backed
• Sold with authenticity certificate

Note: All woodblockprints are sold without frame

About the artist

Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1798–1861) was a Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock artist and printmaker who lived during the Edo period. He was a prominent member of the Utagawa school, which was one of the most influential and ukiyo-e art schools of the time. Kuniyoshi is particularly well-known for his imaginative and dynamic woodblock prints, which often featured samurai warriors, kabuki actors, landscapes, and scenes from Japanese history and mythology.