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YOSHITOSHI, Tsukioka (1839 - 1892)		The Four Seasons at Their Height: Winter Maboroshi-dayu with snow rabbit at Daishoro, the 'Flower Mansion' in Nezu
		Signed:                        ôju Yoshitoshi ga Artist's seal:               Taiso Publisher:                   Akiyama Buemon Dated:                          12/1883 Size:                             oban triptych Condition: EXCELLENT impression, with fresh, unfaded colors; minor crease at top of center and left sheets, slight paper toning to back of paper, slight wear and soil to margins, a few tiny pin- holes along the left side of the left panel only, - else very good condition. Three separate sheets as issued. - RARE. - ref. no.: #732893 Price: € 2,200.00

This print is from the rare triptych series, entitled in Japanese "Zensei shiki" ('The Four Seasons at Their Height'), the above design representing WINTER. The summer triptych ("Women bathing at the Daishoro", 9/1883) is illustrated in the catalog of the Cole collection listed below. Roger Keyes in his dissertation, "Courage and Silence", only lists three triptychs, the third one being "Spring". - Whether a fourth triptych (representing 'autumn' as the missing season) has ever been published is not known to us. The triptychs in this set are among the few prints of women that Yoshitoshi designed during his sojourn in Nezu and seem to be very rare. The courtesan Maboroshi-dayu ('Lady Phantom') holds a snow rabbit. Flanked by two attendants, she stands in the garden of the Daishoro, a high-class brothel in the Nezu area of Tokyo. - Yoshitoshi had a long liaison with Maboroshi-dayu. Reference literature: - Roger Keyes, "Courage and Silence", 1982; no. #458.2; - R. Keyes / G. Kuwamyama, "The bizarre imagery of Yoshitoshi - The Herbert R. Cole Collection", 1980; p. 54, no. #22 (illustrating the summer triptych of the series)

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