612 - Two triptychs by Toyokuni I, colour woodblock prints from the Edo period, Japan, 19th century.

Two triptychs by Toyokuni I, colour woodblock prints from the Edo period, Japan, 19th century. Utagawa Toyokuni I (1769-1825), scene from the classic play *Imoseyama*, c. 1810: ‘Yoshinogawa’, a tragic love story in which the young lovers Koganosuke and Hinadori find themselves on opposite sides of the Yoshino River and choose to take their own lives together rather than bow to tyrannical laws, Oban-format triptych (each 37 x 24.5/25 cm, total 37 x 73.5 cm), the three sheets mounted on cardboard and glued together with a slight overlap, as well as ‘Fireworks on the Ryogoku Bridge’ c. 1820/25, the lower three sheets of a hexatych, geishas and musicians watching the fireworks from boats beneath the bridge, Oban format (each 38 x 26.5 cm, total 38 x 80 cm), the three sheets mounted, framed by a silk mat and carefully glued together; colours of the woodblock prints have faded due to age