Manners and Customs of the Japanese, in the Nineteenth Century. From the Accounts of Recent Dutch Residents in Japan, and from the German Work of Dr. Ph. Fr. von Siebold.
Author: Siebold, Philipp Franz von et al.
Publisher: Harper & Brothers, New York, 1841.
La Préfecture de Police, par un vieux petit employé - Procès de La Lanterne avec tous ses incidents. Administration du journal La Lanterne, Paris, 1879.
Quatrième édition.
Anonymous publication. Authorship attributed to: Yves Guyot, Francisque Sarcey. Source: Harvard College Library, Soc. 3375.6, 14-OCT-1914, Wolcott Fund.
Segawa Kikunojō III (Japanese, 1751 – 1810); other names: Segawa Senjo, Segawa Rokō III, Segawa Tomisaburō I, Ichiyama Tomisaburō, Ichiyama Shichinosuke. The actor held the name of Segawa Kikunojō III from the 11th lunar month of 1774 to the 7th lunar month of 1801. He surpassed all the actors of his time in both female and male roles, especially in the former, and achieved tremendous public acclaim.
Arashi Hinasuke II [嵐雛助] (Japanese, c. 1774 – 1801); other names: Nakamura Jūzō III, Kanō Hidenosuke I, Arashi Hidenosuke I. The actor held the name of Arashi Hinasuke II from the 1st lunar month of 1794 to the 2nd lunar month of 1801. Hi died in Edo on the 4th day of the 2nd lunar month of 1801. For the same characters illustrated by Utagawa Kuniyoshi see SVJP-0333.2021.
Sources:
7-U17. Ron Hartmann Collection.
Kanazawa in Kaga was a centre of fine metal work during the whole of the Tokugawa period. At first the inlayers of Fushimi following the Daimyo Maeda went to Kanazawa, then some of the Gotō masters proceeded from Kyoto for short periods to work for the Daimyo, so that their influence was strongly impressed upon Kaga work..." A somewhat look-a-like tsuba is illustrated at plate XXVIII, Kaga Inlay, №653 with the following description at page 52: "Shakudō, inlaid with five insects in gold: crickets, praying mantis, grasshopper, in the style of Takagawara Ujitsugu.According to M. Sesko, Ujitsugu was a master from Katsuki and Kaneko School in Kaga, son of Ujihira. Ujihira's father Ujiyoshi died in 1802. This brings us to the mid-19th century, instead of mid-18th or earlier. On the other hand, a very much look alike specimen at MFA collection (ACCESSION NUMBER 17.1061) has the with the following description: Edo period. Late 18th–early 19th century. Murakami School. Main material: shakudo; other metals: gold; decorative technique: iroe hirazogan.
MFA # 17.1061
№1: "...one of the most exotic scenes in all shunga. A Dutch kapitan is discovered coupling with a lovely Japanese courtesan, beside a large window opening upon a garden...".
№2: "...a fair young harlot is seen masturbating with a grinding-pestle - a man watches intently from under bedding." [I have two specimens of this design; the one from album is more soiled but less faded].
№3: "...the artist has effectively contrasted the lovers by depicting the man's face as seen through the geisha's gauze skirt. [...] we are impressed more by strikingly elegant composition, the dramatic coloring, rather than feeling any great urge to participate in the energetic proceedings..."
№4: "This scene is a most straightforward one, featuring the standard Missionary Position [capitalization by R. Lane].; but withal, the contrast of the young and naked, secret lover and the richly-clothed courtesan amid luxurious bedding..."
№5: "In a striking lesbian scene (which has no equivalent in Utamaro, and is, incidentally, often omitted in later editions of this album), the girl at left prepares to receive the harikata (dildo) worn by the older girl at right (who holds a seashell containing lubricant)."
№6: "In the first appearance of a matronly heroine in this series, we find a widow - with shaven eyebrows and clipped hair - sporting with a handsome yound shop-clerk, mounting him with all her might."
№7: "... lady of samurai court: here, shown taking advantage of an official outing to temple and theatre, to rendezvous with a secret lover on a teahouse balcony." R. Lane considers this design the least successful in the series, especially in comparison with the same theme by Utamaro: "Utamaro female is almost ferocious in her lust for sexual gratification", which does not sound true to me. See Utamaro's sheet №5 from the album Utamakura (歌まくら, Poem of the Pillow) [courtesy The British Museum without permission]:
Then, as Richard Lane states, "we are flung suddenly to the bottom rung of Edo society":
№8: "Here we find a fair yotaka ('night-hawk', e.i. streetwalker) accommodating a lusty client in a lumberyard by the bank of the Sumida River".
№9: '... a slightly plump harlot of the lower class receives a night visit from her lover, whose naked form she tries to cover with a cloak."
№10: "...likely maidservant and lackey - are depicted in bath-room, their passions are all too obviously fired by steaming water."
№11: "...this scene of courtesan and secret lover ranks high not only in Eiri's œuvre but also in the annals of the ukiyo-e genre itself. Both design and colouring are impeccable and, for this period, there is nothing even in the work of great Utamaro that really surpasses it." Again, a doubtful statement, however, this is Utamaro's design for the reader to judge:
The last design in my album is this:
#13: In most reference books it goes under number 13, and we will assign this number to the sheet. "The final scene of the album features naked participants, probably samurai man and wife. The print is rather subdued in tone and colour, if not in the degree of the passion displayed..."
An additional sheet, acquired separately from a reputable dealer in New York, is usually listed as №12:
№12: "One might think that Eiri has reached his peak with the preceding plate 11 - and indeed he has, in both esthetic and erotic terms. But the album is not yet finished, and the next scene lends a needed variety to the series, a slightly comic tableau featuring a middle-aged lackey attempting to forcibly seduce a servant girl of the same domicile". Utamaro's design, that inspired Eiri is here:
All descriptions are taken from Richard Lane's article at The Complete Ukiyo-e Shunga №9 Eiri, 1996. He concluded: "...Eiri's erotic series represents a major contribution to shunga art towards the close of ukiyo-e "Golden Age". In part inspired by Utamaro's classic album, this series withal constitutes a unified and original achievement, providing a cumulative effect of gracefully elegant yet glowing eroticism, which remains in the mind's eye long after the pictures themselves are far away."
I only would like to mention here that in several reference sources this album goes under name of Eisho; unfortunately, this mistake is reproduced at www.ukiyo-e.org, which miraculously shows exactly my print, but under the wrong name of the artist. The same mistake can be found at Shunga. The art of love in Japan. Tom and Mary Anne Evans. Paddington Press Ltd., 1975. ISBN 0-8467-0066-2; plates 6.74-6.77: Chōkyōsai Eishō, c. 1800. Even the British Museum edition of 2010 gives the same erroneous attribution: Chōkyōsai Eishō (1793-1801); they provide the following translation of title: "Clean Draft of a Letter" [see: Shunga. Erotic art in Japan. Rosina Buckland. The British Museum Press, 2010; pp. 110-112]. To the honour of the British Museum, I must admit that they have corrected themselves in Shunga. Sex and pleasure in Japanese art. Edited by Timothy Clark, et al. Hotei Publishing, 2013. Now, they say Chōkyōsai Eiri (worked c. 1790s-1801); they also provide a new title: "Neat Version of the Love Letter, or Pure Drawings of Female Beauty". I have already mentioned Richard Lane's version of title: "Love-letters, Love Consummated", and Chris Uhlenbeck's "Models of calligraphy". In poorly designed and printed Shunga. Erotic figures in Japanese art. Presented by Gabriele Mandel. Translated by Alison L'Eplattenier. Crescent Books, New York, 1983, the artist is named Shokyosai Eisho (beginning of the 19th century); title provided: "Models of Calligraphy". Correct attribution to Chōkyōsai Eiri also can be found at Poem of the pillow and other stories by Utamaro, Hokusai, Kuniyoshi and other artists of the floating world. Gian Carlo Calza in collaboration with Stefania Piotti. Phaidon Press, 2010; though the title is translated as "Clean Copy of Female Beauty".
A lookalike triptych by Kunisada can be found in Ronin Gallery:
Data from Kabuki21:
Stage names:
Matsumoto Kôshirô V, Ichikawa Komazô III, Ichikawa Sumizô I
Guild: Kôraiya
Line number: GODAIME (V)
Poetry names: Kinshô, Kinkô
Existence: 1764 ~ 10th day of the 5th lunar month of 1838
Connection:
Father: Matsumoto Kôshirô IV
Sons: Matsumoto Kôshirô VI, Ichikawa Sumizô II
Disciples: Matsumoto Kojirô, Matsumoto Kingo I, Matsumoto Hidejûrô II
Matsumoto Kôshirô V was one of the Kabuki giants, a senryô yakusha, during the Bunka, Bunsei and Tenpô eras. In his 20's he was a tachiyaku actor excelling in nimaime roles like Soga Jûrô Sukenari in sogamono dramas. He started to perform jitsuaku roles from the 11th lunar month of 1798 and quickly became one of the best actors for villain roles, especially in Tsuruya Nanboku IV's kizewamono. He had a considerable influence on actors like Onoe Kikugorô III or Ichikawa Danjûrô VII. The kata he deviced for some of the most famous roles in Kabuki history, like Gonta ("Sushiya") or Nikki Danjô* ("Meiboku Sendai Hagi") are still used nowadays. "The fifth Kôshirô had a very large nose and his eyes were close together, two facial defects the print artists were fond of depicting, so that this Edo actor is easily picked out in the pictures illustrating the theatre of this time." (Zoë Kincaid in "Kabuki, the Popular Stage of Japan")
As Japanese Erotic Fantasies put it: "a couple engaged in love-making, their stare fixed outside the picture plane". This is the only image of series that has a reference in available western literature, and the only one found in museum collections: Rijksmuseum Amsterdam (RP-P-1999-2001-16); reference: Fukuda (ed.) (1990), pls. 11-2.
The scene of this print looks quite similar to that of the Kiyonaga's Sode no maki:
The woman is "a young lady-in-waiting of Shogun's Court or Daimyō's Mansion, enjoying a rare outing from her tedious chores" [Richard Lane]. She is fully dressed in her outer cloak (shikake), white paper hat (agebōshi or tsunokakushi), and toed socks (tabi). A book or maybe, onkotogami (roll of tissues known as 'paper for honourable act' ) is still in the folds of her kimono. She is holding an open fan, either to cover her and her lover's faces from an unsolicited witness or to bring some fresh air to their joined lips. The pair just started their sexual intercourse.
A scene from medieval times. A courtier in eboshi cap having sex with an aristocratic young woman with a long straight hairstyle (suihatsu).
Completely naked couple in the moment of ejaculation. Lavish garments with paulownia leaves on a yellow background counterbalance the white bodies on red bedding. The form of a woman's cheeks is telling, but I don't know about what. Maybe her advanced age?
The pose of the couple and the overall composition are similar to that of the previous sheet. Though the lovers are dressed, and the woman's hairdo is well kept. The male looks older and the woman - younger.
A man takes a young maid from behind. She clenches the sleeve of her kimono in her teeth; it's either the moment of penetration (beginning of intercourse) or of her orgasm (the end of it).
This seems to be a forced intercourse between a lackey with extensive bodily hair and a young maid from the same household.
This design is very much like the other one presented below, which is described at Japanese Erotic Fantasies on page 136 (pl. 43b) as follows: "The viewer peers through a mosquito net to see a child fast asleep, while his mother or wet-nurse moves towards her partner. On our print there is no child; instead of a sleeping baby, there is a roll of onkotogami. Fewer objects make the overall image concise, almost laconic in comparison with the Ehon hana fubuki (1802) design:
A young couple in a moment of true love. He is listening to the beating of her heart.
This is a moment of true love between an old monk and a young samurai. The latter even did not take of his socks (tabi).
From Japanese Erotic Fantasies: "Boats played a crucial role in the workings of Yoshiwara, as they were the primary means of transport to the district. During the hot summer months, trips on pleasure boats were also a favourite pastime. Sex aboard a boat is a recurrent theme in shunga".
The last print that I am currently lacking and hunting for:
I know where it is, but I cannot reach it... yet. 
