Ten tanzaku (tall narrow cards for printing poetry), each consisting of two panels of thick paper joined at head, the upper card with an erotic color-printed woodcut, the lower with printed kyoka poetry

Ten cards (181 x 50 mm.), all preserved in the orig. folded color-printed wrapper, entitled on upper panel Furyu e tanzaku [Elegantly Illustrated Tanzaku Cards]. [Japan: Meiji Era].

Ten erotic cards, issued together, each in the tanzaku ban format, and accompanied by their original color-printed wrapper. Tanzaku cards were popular in the Meiji era (1868-1912); see Rosina Buckland’s “Erotic Art of the Meiji Era (1868-1912)” in Timothy Clark et al., eds., Shunga. Sex and Pleasure in Japanese Art (British Museum: 2013), pp. 454-55.

The upper panel of each is very finely color-printed with saturated inks, embossing, and rich use of metallic pigments, revealing the Japanese printer’s art at its best. They all depict men and women engaged in a series of sexual acts. The woodblock-printed lower panels feature the conversations of the couples while engaged in their sexual acts and kyoka poems, which are rich in sexual innuendos and racy double-meanings.

The original wrapper that contains the ten cards has also been very finely color-printed, again with saturated colors and embossing.

In fine condition.