Antique late Edo-Era Shunga Erotic Woodblock Print Picture Book — Collaborative Works by Kyosai & Shozan
 
A genuinely rare piece for serious collectors of Japanese erotic ukiyo-e and historical art books.  This is an original shunga woodblock print picture book from the late Edo period, featuring a collaborative effort between Kyosai and Koikawa Shozan — two very different but equally fascinating artists, who happened to work together on shunga books on a few occasions. 
 
Highlights & Description:
🎨 Artistic Collaboration:
• Kawanabe Kyōsai 河鍋 暁斎 ( 1831 ~ 1889 ) — renowned for his energetic, unrestrained style and comical, often grotesque imagery.  Typical Kyosai oddities (including an octopus-related scene reminiscent of the famed “Dream of the Fisherman’s Wife” motif, as well as number of other bestiality shunga scenes with a bat, dog, & giant clam). 
• Koikawa Shozan — a prolific shunga artist whose works are prized for refined composition and technique; in this book, all of his erotic scenes are printed with deluxe shunga techniques such as an incredible amount of mica (metalic pigments), creating a luxurious, deluxe erotic artwork uncommon in ordinary shunga.  Thus, the scenes are absolutely stunning!
✨ Mica & Pigment: The non-comical, natural outdoor shunga scenes by Shozan feature different colored mica and metallic pigments, giving the images a rich, lustrous deluxe finish.
🖋️ Condition: Very good with minimal wear.  Please see and judge from the photos provided.
📏 Size: Approx. 13 cm × 6.5 cm (closed).  An accordion-style, fold open book.
🌀 Content: A mix of playful, bizarre, and explicit scenes typical of shunga; the Kyosai contributions lean toward the wild and mythic, while the Shozan plates emphasize erotic elegance and visual richness.  22 pages of exceptionally beautiful, deluxe shunga woodblock print artwork enclosed - a true masterpiece in of this genre from this era.
 
Why This Book Matters: This is not a standard shunga book.  What sets it apart is the deliberate contrast between two extremes of late-period erotic art:
On one side, Kawanabe Kyōsai at his most unrestrained — contributing rare, humorous, and frankly bizarre shunga scenes that go well beyond typical erotic imagery.  These include bestial and yokai-like (supernatural/ghost) encounters involving an octopus, bat, and giant clam, rendered with Kyōsai’s unmistakable wit, caricature, and dark humor.  Erotic works by Kyōsai are scarce to begin with; examples this strange and playful are exceptionally uncommon. 
On the other side, Koikawa Shōzan delivers superb deluxe shunga compositions, printed with an unusually heavy use of multiple colored mica and metallic pigments, only replicated by his partner to this day - Kyosai himsel - in other shunga works.   In all of his scenes, the mica is not merely a decorative accent, but a dominant visual element, giving the images a luminous, almost jewel-like surface that places this book firmly in the high-end, luxury tier of Edo/Meiji-period shunga production.  For collectors who already own conventional shunga books, this volume stands out immediately as stranger, aesthetically richer, and more daring than the norm.
 
One of our absolute favorites!  To see our other premium selections & personal recommendations, please click here.
 
Curious about the history behind these works?  Read our feature article: The Many Faces of Shunga — Why This Erotic Art Still Matters.