Height: 21.80 centimetres

Width: 15.10 centimetres

Asano and Clark 1995

The most significant erotic work by Utamaro from the period before ‘Utamakura’ (1788, cat. no. 489), and having in common with ‘Utamakura’ its bold compositions, daringly cropping the figures with the frame lines of the page; a technique otherwise previously seen in Kiyonaga's ‘Sode no maki’ of c. 1785. Another feature is that several of the compositions continue over two double pages, adding further to the sense of monumentality of the figures. The dating of the work was previously uncertain until the discovery of a copy which included a printed date (as here) of 1786 in the preface.

The British Museum copy, from the collection of Jack Hillier, is only volume one of a set of three. No complete set of all three volumes together is presently recorded. A colour-printed version is known in odd volumes, which is thought to be a later printing. A complete reproduction of plates and full transcription of the text appears in Hayashi 1990, pp. 197-233.

Literature: ‘Kokusho somokuroku’「 国書総目録」, vol. 1, Iwanami Shoten, Tokyo, 1963-72, pl. 492. Hayashi, Yoshikazu 林美一, ‘Edo makura-eshi shusei: Utamaro sei’「 江戸枕絵師集成　喜多川歌麿　正」,Tokyo, Kawade Shobo Shinsha, 1990, pp. 175-177, 197-233. Hayashi, Yoshikazu 林美一, ‘Utamaro: Le Chant de la Volupte’, Translated by Jacques Levy. Aries, Editions Philippe Picquier, 1992, 11-47.

[Main text translated in Japanese below / 以下上記本文日本語訳]

浅野／クラーク　1995

「歌まくら」（天明8年刊、第489図）に先行する重要な歌麿の春画である。「歌まくら」とは大胆な構図が共通し、人物を画面の端でスパッと断ち切っている。同様の技法はすでに鳥居清長の「袖の巻」（天明5年頃刊）に見られる。他の特徴としては1丁半にわたる構図が見られ、人体を実際以上に大きく見せている。本書の刊年は不明であったが、天明6年の刊記をもつ序文を含む上巻が発見された。