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attr. to Ipposai KUNIAKI
(1835 - 88)
Two frogs as sumo wrestlers, a third as the referee

Preparatory brush drawing; sumi (black ink) on thin paper.

Date:                  1860s - 80s
Size of sheet:     10 x 23 cms / c. 4" x 9"



Condition:  Fine.

Provenance:
From a Kunisada-school album of preparatory drawings.

ref. no.: # S 62 2005
Price:  € 650.00
The brush drawing depicts two frogs engaged in a match of sumo wrestling, while a third acts as the referee holding the referee's fan in his right hand.

The artist became a pupil of Utagawa Kunisada in 1844, and excelled in the field of actor and sumo wrestler prints, and is also known for his early Yokohama-e depiciting foreigners who lived and visited the busy port town. Known as Kuniaki II, it is not clear whether he was the younger brother of Hirasawa Kuniaki (Kuniaki I) or the same person.

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