Lovers Playing the Same Fute (parody of Xuanzong and Yang Guifei)

Two figures in kimono sit close together on an orange lacquered bench, one seated behind the other with arms wrapped around to help guide a transverse flute (fue) held to the second figure's lips; both wear their hair in tall dark loops, and their robes are patterned with pine sprigs and striped underlayers in grey, cream, and soft orange. Behind them a stylized shoreline with grasses, lily pads, and a cluster of small yellow flowers runs along a curving band of water rendered in fine linear ripples, against a plain pale ground; a black lacquer tobacco tray and a wooden sandal rest near their feet, and the artist's signature reads vertically at the right. Suzuki Harunobu, "Lovers Playing the Same Flute" (parody of Xuanzong and Yang Guifei), 1762, color woodblock print, chuban.