Utagawa Yoshitsuya (1822-1866) & Kuniteru (1808-1874) Japanese, (2) Woodblocks. Both depict warriors surrounded by falling cherry blossoms, with seals and various kanji throughout. Both are unframed and come with a blank backing sheet which is stamped with "Original Guarantee by Sakai Ltd, Established 1874 Tokyo Japan." Handwritten in pencil on the sheer of one is "By Yoshitsuya made in 1850" and on the other is "By Kuniteru 1830-1874." 

Overall Size: 17 3/4 x 13 1/4 in. 

Sight Size: 14 x 9 3/4 in. 

Utagawa Yoshitsuya was born on February 22nd, 1822 in Japan. He was also known as Kōko Yoshitsuya and Ichieisai Yoshitsuya, and became a designer of ukiyo-e woodblock prints. As a star student of Utagawa Kuniyoshi he was best known for his woodblock prints of warriors. Yoshitsuya also produced many advertisements and designs for tattoos. His students include Utagawa Kazutoyo, Utagawa Yoshitoyo II, and Yoshitsuya II, most of whom were primarily active after his tragic early death on August 2nd, 1866 during one of the epidemics that crippled the country leading up to the beginning of the Meiji Restoration. 

Utagawa Kuniteru was born in Edo, Japan in 1808 and studied woodblock printmaking under both Kunisada and Toyokuni I before becoming the primary disciple of Kunitsuna. He produced prints of a wide variety of subjects, with his main output taking the form of book illustrations and single-sheet ukiyo-e, and after taking his last master’s name he expanded his range to include caricatures, travel scenes, images of sumo wrestling, and the increasing modernization and Westernization of Japan. His earliest works appeared when he was twenty-two, and his last works appeared in the mid 1860s, during the tumultuous lead-up to the beginning of the Meiji Restoration. He was known by various names including Kunitsuna II, Sadashige, Ichiyusai, and Ichiransai until the Ganji era (1864/1865), allowing him to concentrate on many genres and maintain a broad audience, but this may also have contributed to his eventual retirement, as many woodblock artists were criticized, arrested, or censured for their artwork in that late period. He died in 1874, and his work is still collected for its impact on major shifts in the style in the latter 19th Century.

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