Antique Japanese Woodblock Prints. page 4.

木版画 Page 4.

JAPANSE HOUTSNEDEN - ORIGINEEL

( JAPANESE WOODBLOCK PRINTS - ORIGINAL )

Kawase Hasui - A sunny day after snow in Yoshida.

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Rare Kakemono-e – Kikugawa Eizan – Geisha With Lantern – c.1830.

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Description:

Antique Japanese color woodblock print by Kikugawa Eizan (1787–1767). Kakemono-e (hanging scroll).
Date: c.1830.Vertical oban diptych size (panels joined): ca.26 4/5” x 9” inches. Fine impression (with metallic
pigments and gauffrage details), very good color and condition. Slightly trimmed, Minor creasing and soiling,
marks and flaws. Not backed.

“A secretive geisha moves to the Edo night holding a lantern while lifting her skirt to free her legs for walking.
Eizan magnificently captures her suppressed excitement, accentuated by biting the scarf she is wearing.”

Another (inferior) impression of this design is housed in the > Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.

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Rare Uncensored Triptych – Ito Seisai – Bloody Massacre –

Shianbashi Incident – c.1876.

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Description:

Antique Japanese color woodblock print by Ito Seisai (1846– ?). Chimidoro-e (Bloody pictures). Date: c.1876.
Oban triptych size (each panel): ca.14 3/4” x 10” inches. Series: ‘Tokyo nichinichi shinbun (Tokyo Shianbashi Incident).’
Signed: Seisai Yoshimura. Publisher: Fukuda Kumajiro (Gusokuya). Carver: Horiko Yata. Very good impression (with
embossing, lacquer and mica), color and good condition. Minor creasing, wrinkling, some very tiny holes, some small
thinning spots but overall in a good state. Full size, not backed.

“An action-packed triptych design featuring the night attack at Anseibashi in Kumamoto prefecture by Kagoshima rioters.”

This is the uncensored version of this piece including all the bloody details.

You can find an extensive description including an image of the censored version when you click > HERE

A wonderful triptych !

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Triptych – Kunichika – Sword Fight – c.1880.

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Description:

Antique Japanese color woodblock print by Toyohara Chikanobu (1838-1912). Kabuki-e (Actor print).
Date: c.1880. Oban triptych size (each panel): ca.14 3/4” x 10” inches. Signed: Yoshi Chikanobu hitsu
(artist’s red Tama seal). Publisher: Hashimoto Shinzo. Fine impression (with embossing, lacquer and mica),
color and very good condition.Minor creasing and staining, some very tiny holes, some small thinning spots
but overall in a very good state.Full size, not backed.

“A nice triptych portraying a pleasure boat with court ladies watching ama (pearl) divers or ‘woman of the sea’ off the coast of Sagami Province. On the left, one of the divers is swimming through the gentle waves, a knife clenched between her teeth. From the rocky shore three divers watch their colleagues, a large basket of abalone standing nearby.
A wonderful triptych !

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Triptych – Toyokuni III – Sumo Wrestling Match – c.1830.

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Description:

Antique Japanese color woodblock print by Utagawa Toyokuni III (aka. Kunisada) (1786-1865). Sumo-e
(Pictures of Sumo wrestlers). Date: c.1830. Oban triptych size (total size): ca. 30 2/5” x 14 3/4” inches.
Series: Signed: Toyokuni ga.Very good impression, color and condition. Minor creasing and staining,
some very tiny holes, some small thinning spotsbut overall in a very good state. Full size, not backed.

“A wonderful triptych portraying a sumo wrestling match between two contestants. They are standing in a dohyō with on the far left the referee (gyōji) who watches them closely while they are observed by a colleague holding a fan. That he too is a wrestler can be determined by his size and cauliflower ears.“
A wonderful triptych !

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Original Woodblock Triptych - Warrior Horsemen.

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Description:

Original antique Japanese color woodblock Beisaku (1864-1903). Very good condition, color and impression.
Date: 1894. Total size: 27 3/4" x 14 1/2" inches. Signature and seal. Publisher: Mizuno Asajiro.
Title: "Bizarre Manchurian horsemen spy on the Japanese camp near Sauhoku".

Reference:
' Impressions from the Front #40'. Margin trimming, panels joined, a few tears at edges to 1/2 inch, light wear and
soiling otherwise very good state !Beisaku was a student of Kiyochika and his influence is clearly recognizable
especially the effect of shadows and light ! Beisaku was active from 1887 to 1897 and specialized in landscape
and war prints !

A wonderful triptych !

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Magnificent Surimono – Kunisada – Chinese Woman – Late c.1820s.

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Description:

Original antique Japanese color woodblock Utagawa Kunisada (1786–1865). Surimono (commisioned print).
Date: Late 1820s. Size: 7 1/4” x 8 1/4” inches. Excellent impression, color and condition.
Title: Chinese Woman with Butterflies. Poems by Shinrintei Komori.
Superbly printed metallic (silver and gold) pigment and gauffrage details have been added during the printing process.

“A delightfully poetic portrayal of a Chinese woman surrounded by butterflies.”

Just like during the Renaissance when Pope Julius II, a patron of Roman culture, hired the great Michelangelo to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, Japanese nobleman and wealthy merchants (chônin) commissioned the great artists of their time. These surimono were privately produced in small editions for an esoteric audience. Surimono were usually more exploratory in subject matter and treatment, and indulgent in its printing techniques, than the accessible commercial prints. They were fashionable from the 1790s to the 1830s, and many prominent artists designed them. A wonderful and rare example is this portrayal by Kunisada of a Chinese woman.

A rare gem by Kunisada !

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Original 1926 First Edition – Shotei – Harbour Scene At Night – Shin Hanga.

Takahashi Shotei ( Hiroaki ) 高橋松亭 (弘明)

( 1871 ~ 1945 )

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Description:

Original antique Japanese color woodblock by Takahashi Hiroaki (Shotei) (1871-1945).
Date: 1926 (Taisho 15).Shin hanga (New prints). Oban yoko-e size: 15 1/3” x 10 1/2” inches.
Fine (first edition) impression, very good color and condition. Some thinning area’s in the margin (restored),
two uneven browning spots, one small restored hole. Minor marks and flaws. Signed: Hiroaki ga.
Artist’s seal: Shotei. Publisher: Watanabe Shozaburo. The publisher’s mark on the right margin confirms that this is the first edition. Title: Junks in Inatori Bay, Izu (Izu Inatori).

Exquisite bokashi shading to the sky, life-like reflections and light gauffrage to sail and hilltop. The first edition of this design is rarely seen!

“One of Shotei’s best landcape designs featuring a wonderful tranquil harbour scene at sunset.”

References: Marc Kahn, shotei.com, catalog #07

1936 Watanabe cat. no. E-7 p.106/107

> Click here for more info on Takahashi Hiroaki Shotei.

Another impression of this design is in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston.

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Kacho-ga Masterpiece – Hawk And Sparrow – Keisai Eisen – c.1830.

Keisai Eisen 渓斎英泉

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Description:

Original antique Japanese color woodblock by Keisai Eisen (1790-1848). Date: c.1830s.
Kacho-ga (Depictions of Birds and Flowers). O-tanzaku size: 13 1/3” x 6 1/4” inches.
Signed: Keisai (black ink within image). Title: “Eagle and Sparrow.” Very good impression, color and condition. Slightly trimmed, slight creasing at the bottom. Slight foxing on the left side and center of the image.
Some pencil writings, marks and flaws.

“A marvellous print depicting a Northern Goshawk on a snow covered branch of a pine tree eyeing a sparrow overhead, while lifting one claw. Small birds, especially sparrows, are this goshawk’s main prey.”

Other impressions of this design are in the collection of the following museums: Minneapolis Institute of Arts and Five Colleges and Historic Deerfield Museum Consortium.

> Brooklyn Museum.

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Spectacular Actor Print – Ginko – Blood-Drenching Harakiri – c.1870s.

xAdachi Ginko 安達吟光

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Description:

Original antique Japanese color woodblock print by Adachi Ginko (act. 1873-1908). Yakusha-e ( Actor print ).
Date: c.1870s . Oban tate-e Size: 14 1/5” x 9 1/2” inches. Fine impression, color and near fine condition.
Some minor wear and soiling, a very small hole in the white part of the headband ( tissue backed ), marks and flaws.

“A very intense design portraying an actor (look for the Mie pose!) in the decisive moment of commiting suicide
(seppuku / harakiri) with a spear (yari). The intensified moment is accentuated by the dark threatening clouds in the background, the blood flowing down the neck and the “post-mortem blue” of the face. The protagonist wears a beautiful dark kimono featuring a dragon surrounded and a flame (spirit).”

Ginko, a student of the Utagawa school, was a subversive and controversial artist. He was imprisoned for a year after the publication of a provocative design that featured the Emperor Meiji as a skeleton. He worked in various ukiyo-e genres such as bijin-ga (beauty), senso-e (war print), landscape, yakusha-e (actor print), ghost and demons prints and musha-e (warrior print). He was specialized in the triptych format. The exact date and place of his death are not known.

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Great Woodblock Print – Chikanobu – Large Ghost And Badger – 1886.

Toyohara Chikanobu 豊原周延

( 1838 ~ 1912 )

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Description:

Original antique Japanese color woodblock by Toyohara Chikanobu ( 1838~1912 ).
Date: 4/1886. Oban tate-e size: 9 4/5” x 14 2/5” inches.
Series: ‘Eastern Brocades, Day and Night Compared’ (Azuma nishiki chuya kurabe).‘
Title: ‘The Ghost of Old Badger and Kusunoki Masatsura’. Publisher: Kobayashi Tetsujiro.
Signed: Yoshu Chikanobu hitsu. Very good impression, color and condition.
Minor wrinkling and soiling, marks and flaws.

“The main section features Kusunoki Masatsura as an adolescent attacking a frightened badger, one of the physical embodiments of an oni. The inset shows Masatsura while he composes his famous death poem.”

More on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kusunoki_Masatsura Kusunoki Masatsura !

A wonderful ‘Ghost and Demons’–piece !

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Yokohama-e – Balloon Ascension – Americans – Yoshitora – c.1862.

Utagawa Yoshitora 歌川芳虎

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Description:

Original antique Japanese color woodblock by Utagawa Yoshitora (act. ca. 1840-1880).
Yokohama-e (Images featuring Westerners). Date: 6/1867. Signed: Yoshitora ga (each panel).
Title: ‘America: Balloon Ascension (Amerikakoku)’.
Oban tate-e size (each panel): ca.14 1/2” x 9 2/3” inches. Publisher: Shimizuya Naojirô.
Very good impression, good color and condition. Some minor wear and soiling, slight
horizontal centerfold, minor staining and foxing, some small repairs.

“A superb triptych featuring a rather patriotic “fantasy”-scene by Yoshitora of the American consul and his female guests admiring a large hot-air balloon flying by. One of the passengers is waving his hat as they pass by. In the background two other balloons, that are already in the sky, bear each two American flags. The large flag in the center panel ripples in the wind. One of the balloons has an anchor trailing from it. The women all are dressed in the elegant fashions of that time with large undergarments and ruffled hats. The depicted buidlings clearly are interpretations of the European copperengravings published in Japan at that time rather than real photographs of a city in America. The scene is set in a terrific composition with intricate detail and wonderful use of color and bokashi shading.”

Other impressions of this triptych are in the collections of The Harvard Nuseum of Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Library of Congress and de Young/ The Legion of Honor (Fine Art Museums of San Francisco).

An impressive piece with historical significance !

> Click here for more info on Utagawa Yoshitora.

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Takahashi Shotei ( 1871 ~ 1945 ), Japan 高橋松亭

Shotei – Silhouette Of A Woman Carrying A Paper Lantern –

Watanabe – 1936.

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Iconic Hiroshige Masterpiece – Foxfires On New Year’s Eve –

100 Famous Views Of Edo – c.1857.

Andō Hiroshige 安藤広重

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Spectacular Warrior Triptych – Samurai’s In The Waves – Yoshitsune –

Kiyochika – c.1882.

Kobayashi Kiyochika 小林清親

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Description:

Original antique Japanese color woodblock by Kobayashi Kiyochika (1847-1915).
Musha-e (Prints featuring warriors). Date: c.1882. Triptych size (each panel): 14 1/5” x 9 2/5” inches.
Title: ‘The Battle of Dan no Ura From History of Japan.’ Fine impression, color and very good condition.
Some minor wrinkling, two very small thinning spots, minor marks and flaws.

“A very exciting image of the sea battle at Dan no Ura. It shows the legendary Yoshitsune (the center panel) who is executing his fabulous ‘eight boat leap’ in the heat of battle. Kiyochika really captures the tension of the scene with the giant green menacing waves surrounding the warriors and the hostile ships in the background.”

The sea battle at Dan no Ura was the climax of an all decisive war of who would conquer Japan for the next 700 years. The two opposing parties, the Minamoto and the Taira clans fighting each other with fleets off the coast of Japan in 1185. The Taira were accompanied by the 7 year old Emperor Antoku and his family; the Minamoto were headed by the mythical warrior Minamoto no Yoshitsune. The crucial moment in this brutal battle came when one of the Taira generals surrendered and identified the ship containing the young Emperor and his family. Archers of the Minamoto clan shot their arrows at the flagship, sending it off course. Foretelling their defeat, the child emperor and his ancestor jumped to their deaths saying,”In the depths of the ocean we have a capital.” Then began the largest mass suicide (seppuku) in the history of the samurai.

Kiyochika’s highly realistic style of this popular subject really draws the spectator into the scene !

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Fantastic Yoshitoshi Triptych – Abalone Divers Jumping Into The Waves –

Prince Genji – c.1864.

Tsukioka Yoshitoshi 月岡芳年

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Description:

Original antique Japanese color woodblock by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1839-1892).
Bijin-e (Prints featuring beauties). Date: c.1864. Title: ‘Azuma (modern) Prince Genji at Chigo Abyss on Enoshima Island.’ Series: ‘The Contemporary Annual Events.’ Signed: Kaisai Yoshitoshi hitsu (right and left panels), Gyokurô Yoshitoshi hitsu (center panel). Publisher: Tsujioka-ya Bunsuke. Triptych (total) size: 29 1/10” x 14 2/5” inches. Very good impression, good color and condition. Some minor trimming, folding and wrinkling, some repairs and partly backed.

“A spectacular design of Prince Genji watching ama (abalone) divers on the rocky shore at Chigogafuchi on the island of Enoshima. On the left panel a fearless woman dives into the intimidating waves just after a fellow diver, who vanishes below the surf, only one of her feet visible above the water. The center panel portrays two pausing beauties, with one of them offering a large abalone shell to the young aristocrat, who is smiling back at her.”

Other impressions of this piece are in the collections of the Ritsumeikan Universtiy and The Museum of Fine Arts (Boston).

A very early (he was only twenty-five at the time!) Yoshitoshi triptych, with a dynamic and vivid composition and exquisite detail.

> Click here for more info on Yoshitoshi.

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Important Yokohama-e – America – Balloon Ascension – Yoshitora – c.1865.

Utagawa Yoshitora 歌川芳虎

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Description:

Original antique Japanese color woodblock by Utagawa Yoshitora (act. ca. 1840-1880).
Yokohama-e (Prints featuring Westerners). Date: c.1865. Signed: Utagawa Yoshitora ga.
Title: ‘Amerikakoku (America).’ Series: ‘Images of the Western World.’ Publisher: Kagaya Kichibei.
Engraver: Hori Mino. Oban tate-e size (each panel): 14 1/2” x 9 4/5” inches.
Very good impression, color and condition. Some minor wrinkling, marks and flaws only otherwise in a beautiful state.

“A rather unique depiction of Americans gathering to attend a balloon ascension. The Japanese visited America in 1860 for the first time. Their first politic mission was headed by three Japanese officials and completed by a retinue of 77 others (including 6 cooks). For President Buchanan, who was on the apex of a political crisis, their visit was a welcome distraction and the visitors took the country by storm. The American newspapers and paparazzi of the day documented every move, while the Japanese also meticulously reported their impressions of America. Due to the repairs of their ship, the Japanese stay was extended and therefore the delegation was treated to quite an excursion, including a balloon ascension in Philadelphia. Clearly, this event made a big impression as can be seen in the detailed rendering of this triptych.”

Other impressions of this triptych are in the collections of The Library of Congress (Washington) and The Legion of Honour.

A very interesting piece with great historical significance !

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Well-Known Beauty Triptych – Genji At Snowy Garden –

Hiroshige II & Toyokuni III – c.1859.

Hiroshige II 二代広重 – Toyokuni III 三代歌川豊国

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Description:

Original antique Japanese color woodblock by Utagawa Hiroshige II (1826-1869) and Utagawa Toyokuni III (1786-1865). Bijin-e (Prints featuring beauties). Date: 11/1859 . Signed:Ôju Toyokuni ga, in Toshidama cartouche (right sheet); Hiroshige ga (center and left sheets); Toyokuni ga, in Toshidama cartouche (left sheet).
Title: ‘Snow in the Garden (Teichû no yuki).’ Series: ‘Gappitsu Genji (Genji by Collaborating Brushes).’
Triptych size: 28 2/5” x 13 3/4” inches. Very good impression (with gauffrage details on the snow), color and condition. Panels attached and backed, some trimming.

“An entertaining atmospheric scene with Prince Hikaru Genji and his following visiting a snowy garden.
One of the beauties is approaching a footbridge.”

A superb collaborative work by the two important artists Hiroshige II and Toyokuni III (aka. Kunisada) with the first portraying the landscape and the latter the human figures.

Other impressions of this triptych are in the collections of The Museum of Fine Arts (Boston), The British Museum and The Museum of Wisconsin-Madison.

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Wonderful Beauty Triptych – Abalone Divers At The Sea Shore – Octopus –

Toyokuni III – c.1857.

Utagawa Toyokuni III 三代歌川豊国

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Description:

Original antique Japanese color woodblock by Utagawa Toyokuni III (1786-1865).
Bijin-e (Prints featuring beauties). Date: c.1857. Signed: Toyokuni ga.
Title: ‘Triptych Of Genji Enjoying At Futamigaura Beach (Mitsu-uji isobe asobi no zu).’
Triptych size (total): 28 1/4” x 13 2/3” inches. Very good impression, color and condition.
Panels attached and backed, some trimming.

“A delightful scene featuring some ama or awabi (pearl) divers and Prince Genji and his adherents at Futami(gaura) beach, Ise Province. The composition is neatly divided over the three panels with on the left one two divers both holding a knife for opening the oysters with one of them wringing out her skirt, the middle panel portrays a comical scene with an older married (hence the black teeth) woman fascinated by a small octopus who escaped the fishing basket, a sparrow swarm in the sky and a fishing boat in the background. The right panel shows Prince Genji who is being offered an oyster. A shy young servant standing behind him. In the background of the left and middle panel ’Wedded Rocks’ aka. ‘Husband and Wife Rocks’ can be seen. This was a favourite beauty spot and a Shinto site depicting the tasselled rope hanging between the two formations.”

Reference: illustrated on p.56/57 (Fig.75) in ‘Japanese Erotic Art: The Hidden World of Shunga‘ by Ofer Shagan.

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Shunga – Koban – Courtesan With Infant – Okubi-e – c.1830.

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Description:

Original antique Japanese color woodblock print by a prominent member of the Utagawa School.
Shunga (Spring picture). Date: c.1830s. Size: 4 1/2” x 6 3/4” inches.
Excellent early impression (with embossing), color and condition.

Thin backing otherwise in a magnificent state. Wonderful metallic printing (to the kimono’s),
black lacquer (urushi-e) to the black parts and gauffrage to various areas.

“A charming okubi-e (close-up portrait) of a courtesan and a young boy wearing a characteristic hairdo.”

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