UTAGAWA KUNIYOSHI (1797-1861) Edo period (1615-1868), circa 1834UTAGAWA KUNIYOSHI (1797-1861)Edo period (1615-1868), circa 1834An oban yoko-e print depicting Shin Yoshiwara from the set of ten prints Toto meisho (Famous Views of the Eastern Capital) showing night revellers, three walking and two porters carrying a palanquin with a wealthy patron inside returning home along the Yoshiwara embankment, a pair of piebald puppies snuggled against each other, having fallen asleep at the foot of a street lamp, beneath a moon surrounded by an enormous halo covering a vast expanse of sky, published by Kagaya Kichibei, with censor's seal kiwame, the collector's seal of Henri Vever to the right of the publisher's mark; signed Ichiyusai Kuniyoshi ga. 23.3cm x 33.5cm (9 1/8in x 13 1/8in).Provenance:Henri Vever (1854-1942) Collection.An exceedingly rare design, compare with similar fine impressions in the Harvard Art Museum (object no.1933.4.2835) and in the Honolulu Museum of Art Museum (no.1890), both prints also with their green borders trimmed. The cast shadows of the figures, palanquin, clouds, and the use of a pseudo-chiaroscuro technique on the foliage of the trees and the buildings, are reminiscent of Western copperplate engravings (and oil paintings), which already were being imported to Japan by the late eighteenth century.