Shunga. 7 peintures sur soie

A group of seven original erotic paintings on silk, four attributed to Tomioka Eisen (1864 - 1905) and three to his pupil Miyagawa Shuntei (1873 - 1914), executed during the closing years of the Meiji era, probably between 1895 and 1905.

The four compositions attributed to Eisen are laid down on their original mica-flecked paper boards; the three paintings attributed to Shuntei, executed on a lighter, undyed silk, remain unmounted.

A few pale traces of damp and light soiling to the versos, with occasional minor spotting to the paintings. Overall in fine condition.

These works belong to the final decades of shunga, the Japanese tradition of erotic painting and printmaking that had flourished during the Edo period. The modernisation of Japan, the emergence of new reproductive processes, the circulation of erotic photography and the gradual tightening of censorship profoundly altered the production and dissemination of such images. Adopted in 1907 and brought into force the following year, Article 175 of the new Penal Code prohibited the sale, distribution and public display of objects deemed obscene, driving the genre into an increasingly private sphere.

On the eve of this rupture, erotic subject matter could become the occasion for a final display of pictorial virtuosity. Attention shifts to the folds of a robe, the translucency of silk, the arrangement of an interior or the delicacy of a face. Colour, textile patterns and the balance of the bodies do not merely embellish the scene: they determine its rhythm and subtly redirect its focus. The female figures, far from remaining passive objects of the gaze, participate fully in the tension and unfolding of each composition.

The group brings together two directly connected generations of late nineteenth-century Japanese painting. Trained by Kobayashi Eitaku, Tomioka Eisen became one of the most sought-after illustrators of his day, particularly celebrated for his kuchi-e, the colour frontispieces produced for novels and periodicals. His compositions here are distinguished by the richness of their settings, the brilliance of their textiles and a confident decorative structure still deeply rooted in the traditions of ukiyo-e.

Miyagawa Shuntei first studied under the nanga painter Watanabe Shōka and subsequently became a pupil of Eisen. Best known for his images of women, children and domestic life, he developed a more intimate manner, attentive to suspended gestures and the unspoken relationships between his figures. Seen together, the works of master and pupil suggest not so much a break as a gradual transition: from the decorative opulence inherited from the print tradition towards a quieter and more introspective sensibility characteristic of the closing years of Meiji.

The paintings are housed in a modern accordion-fold binding specifically devised to preserve them without interfering with their earlier supports. The folding structure is attached to a pale green cloth portfolio, each side opening by means of a supple leather tab. The paintings already laid down on board have been mounted on secondary supports, while the unmounted silks are held only by two paper guards at the margins, without adhesive being applied directly to the fabric.

Each painting is placed within a hinged window mount fashioned from a different modern Japanese paper. The pastedowns, folding structure and case are likewise covered, both within and without, in a variety of fine Japanese papers selected for their contrasting textures and patterns. Rather than attempting to imitate an early binding, the arrangement provides the paintings with a protective and richly decorative setting of its own.

A rare gathering of seven paintings from the final age of shunga, bringing together Tomioka Eisen and Miyagawa Shuntei at the moment when the tradition they inherited was disappearing from public view. The refinement of the modern binding now answers the silk, colour and gestures of the paintings themselves: a final flourish of Japanese erotic art on the eve of its eclipse.