About the Artist & Series
Kawanabe Kyōsai (1831–1889) was a prolific and wildly inventive artist of the late Edo to early Meiji era, renowned for his biting satire, mischievous humor, and bold imagination.  Often called the “demon painter,” Kyōsai seamlessly blended classical Japanese aesthetics with caricature, political commentary, and ribald humor.
 
This particular shunga woodblock print series titled The Great Tail (Ō-Shiri Monogatari, c. 1870) is one of Kyōsai’s rare and highly sought-after shunga (erotic art) series.  Unlike the more serene and intimate works of earlier shunga masters, Kyōsai’s approach bursts with energy and comic absurdity.  His figures are exaggerated, animated, and sometimes grotesque—mocking social conventions while celebrating the raw, unrestrained aspects of human desire.
 
This shunga woodblock print series captures Kyōsai’s signature mix of eroticism, wit, and theatrical chaos.  Each image tells a bawdy tale, revealing the artist’s playful rebellion against both artistic and societal norms of his time.  
 
Shunga picture measures 11.5 cm x 17.5 cm.  Good colors and impressions.  Decent+ condition with some wear, soiling, bit of creasing, slight fading at bottom, album backing on reverse.
 
A Tumbling Heap of Ecstasy
Kyōsai plunges into pure erotic pandemonium with this chaotic pile of writhing bodies.  Couples are locked in heated embrace on the ground while others leap and tumble through the air, their expressions a mix of frenzy and delight.  Limbs intertwine, hair whips around, and pleasure seems to spill over in every direction.
 
This shunga is both humorous and unabashedly raw—an orgiastic whirlwind where no one is left untouched.