A rare Edo-era shunga (erotic) Ukiyo-e handscroll depicting gay sex has sold for $37,500 at Bonhams.

Ukiyo-e (which translates as "pictures of the floating world") is a style of Japanese art popular from the late 17th century to the 19th.

Gay scenes are rare in erotic Ukiyo-e art

The lot led an auction of fine Japanese works of art in New York on March 16.

While homosexuality was largely accepted in Edo era Japan, this is one of very few known Ukiyo-e works displaying relations between men.

It was painted by Miyagawa Choshun (1683-1753), whose work has only recently begun to receive attention from scholars.

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