Utamaro Kitagawa

Utamaros' famous design originates from a series of love stories. He tells of the employee Mohei, who falls in love with Osan, his master's wife. Mohei shows her a tattoo on his arm, which reads »Osan is my destiny«. In this case we are dealing with a print by the publisher Sakai Tobei (1844-1911), who republished several series of Japanese woodblock prints as they were sold in increasing numbers to collectors in the West and disappeared from Japan.