I found and bought a set of shunga prints by Utamaro Kitagawa in a dusty and messy junk shop a few years ago. I asked the shop owner how old they were and he said he didn’t know but he thought over 100 years. I always assumed there was no way they could be originals. Out of curiosity I recently read up on how to tell his originals and now think there’s a very small chance they could actually be original due to the paper type and damage on them. Does anyone know where I can authenticate them in Tokyo? Shunga prints are rarely signed and these aren’t. I found it hard to find places while searching in Japanese and English. Any help is appreciated! Thanks.
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there seems to be tons of places that do authentication/evaluation for ukiyoe (search for 浮世絵 査定 or 鑑定). Unsurprisingly several seem to be in Jinbocho.
I don’t see why it being a shunga would be an issue.