Comment - Portrait of a beauty holding a blue Edo kite ("Edo-tako", "江戸凧") with a design of a crane with outstretched wings, the kiteline bridles gathered in her hand. She smiles happily as she turns to the side, the sleeves of her purple kimono raised in front of her. An inset above depicts a samurai dressed in formal court attire, wearing a voluminous blue robe with the same crest as that on the crane kite, and maybe Asahina. The crane is the traditional crest of Kobayshi Asahina, the loyal strongman of the Soga Brothers.
Lovely jewel-tone color with fine line work in the beauty's hair and delicate cloth embossing in the white background of the inset. The poem is not read. The title is written in the yellow cassette above the Geisha's head (upper left).


Series - "Six Poems of Love and Valor" (Enyū rokkasen, 艶雄 六歌撰 ) are six poems of romances with heroes in 12 woodblocks. The series title drawn within the cassette on the upper right (Kanji and Hiragana Characters)


Artist - see Biography YOSHITOSHI


Signature - Yoshitoshi-ga (芳虎画); lower left, larger cassette with his red seal, adjacent to publisher's ad date seal; rectangular carver's seal (彫): Gin (銀) is below signature cassette


Publisher - Hirose Tatsugorō (廣瀬辰五郎)


Image Size - 23.5cm X  34.6cm  (9 1/4" x 13 5/8")



Condition - single sheet; nishiki-e (cloured woodblock); vertical ôban (ôban tate-e);