Signed: Eishi zu; Publisher’s seal: Eiju han (Nishimura Yohachi) and logo; censor’s seal: kiwame; Panel of a diptych or triptych(?), ōban, 37.8 x 25.1 cm; nishiki-e with fukibokashi and gomazuri

The prints in this triptych each show two elegant women promenading along the coast in Edo Bay. Behind the women is the green coastal path and the water of the bay with all sorts of boats. The middle print, which we have here, is extraordinarily well-printed. Particularly worth mentioning is the effect of the transparent gauze of the kimono of the woman on the right, which was created using itabokashi technique (“bevelled printing block”).

Henri Vever (Sotheby’s, London, March 1974); R. E. Lewis, San Francisco (April 1974)
Riese Collection #88

No set of this elegant triptyph is known to be complete, but all three panels are reproduced in the catalogue of the second Vever sale (Sotheby’s, London, 26 March 1975, nos. 228, 232). In the left panel two willowy figures are pointing toward the right, while in background several ships lie moored off shore. In the right panel two more women, one with a closed parasol in her hand, are just stepping out from under the latticed canopy of a teahouse where they have been resting from the summer sun. A boy with a bundle on his shoulders looks up at them. This centre panel is beautifully printed. The effect of transparent gauze on the kimono of the lady to the right which is achieved by a technique of bevelling the colour block (ita-bokashi) is especially lovely.