Japanese Woodblock Print, originally published c.1770, this is early 20th century from recarved blocks printed on silk, publisher unknown

SIZE IN INCHES: chuban, 8 x 11 inches

COMMENTS: Printed on silk.

ISODA KORYUSAI (1735-1790) was a Japanese ukiyo-e print designer and painter active from 1769 to 1790. Koryusai worked as a samurai in the service of the Tsuchiya clan. He became a masterless ronin after the death of the head of the clan and moved to Edo (modern Tokyo) where he settled near Ryogoku Bridge in the Yagenbori area. He became a print designer there under the art name Haruhiro in 1769, at first making samurai-themed designs. The ukiyo-e print master Harunobu died in 1770, and about that time Koryusai began making prints in a similar style of life in the pleasure districts. Koryusai was a prolific designer of individual prints and print series, numbering over 2500, or an average of four a week. According to art historian Allen Hockley, "Koryusai may ... have been the most productive artist of the eighteenth century".

VG, minor flaws as shown