Genji and a boy attendant outside a house on a moonlit night. Colour woodcut by Kunisada II, 1857.

Both figures are in fashionable attire: these prints displayed the most contemporary patterns

From a set reworking scenes from the famous tenth and eleventh century novel 'Tale of ginji' by Murasaki Shikibu: this scene shows an episode in chapter 3, the shell of the locust. Kunisada I, began the vogue for 'contemporary' versions of Genji

Edo [Tokyo] : [publisher not identified], 1857.

1 print : woodcut, printed in colours

Kōchōrō Kunisada-ga Bears publisher's mark, censor's seal and set title Line of poetry in the white shell; the red shell gives the chapter number and also the symbol linked to each chapter

Wellcome Collection 36769i