Set of Three, Love Birds in Three Kinds of Music (Sampukutsui hiyoku no san kyoku)

This rare uncut hosoban triptych benizuri-e in the Art Institute of Chicago presents Love Birds in Three Kinds of Music (Sampukutsui hiyoku no san kyoku), a sanpukutsui (set of three) composition in which paired figures are shown engaged in three different musical performances. The hiyoku (love birds) motif refers to the canonical Chinese mythological birds that share a single pair of wings and must fly together, and the substitution of human pairs playing music for the literal birds is the kind of mitate (parody) transposition that defines mid-Edo wit. The benizuri-e palette of two or three printed colors, applied through separate blocks, marks the work as part of Shigenaga's late benizuri-e production of the 1740s and early 1750s, exactly the period when Edo printers were perfecting the technical foundations on which Harunobu's nishiki-e revolution of 1765 would build. That the Chicago impression is uncut (preserved as a single sheet rather than divided into three separate hosoban) is rare and significant: triptych sheets were typically cut for sale and display, and an uncut sheet documents the original printing format. The print is among Shigenaga's most accomplished late benizuri-e and demonstrates his role as a transitional figure.