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Toyokuni III/Utagawa KUNISADA (1786-1864)
View of Kakegawa (Kakegawa no zu)
- Category
- Japanese | Beauties
- Series
- Fifty-three Stations of the Tôkaidô Road (Tôkaidô gojûsan tsugi no uchi)
- Publisher
- Moriya Jihei (Kinshindô)
- Engraver
- we
chuban tate-e, 18.6 cm × 26.0 cm
Excellent impression, colour and condition.
Plate 27 from a series of chuban prints depicting beauties with scenes from Hiroshige's Tokaido. The beauty proffers a maple leaf branch. Mount Akiba is printed in shades of blue and green, and a kite blows over the travellers crossing a tressle bridge. In the distance, peasants work in the rice fields. Signed Kochoro Kunisada ga.
£500
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Torii Kotondo 1900-1976
Yuge. 1926.
- Category
- Japanese | Beauties
- Publisher
- Sakai Kawaguchi
dai-oban, 30.0 cm × 47.0 cm
Excellent impression, first state. Excellent colour and condition.
A beauty washes her neck with a towel in a hot spring, onsen. Kotondo uses the technique baren-sujizuri to capture the effect of steam, with swirling marks across the surface of the paper. Kotondo belongs to the Torii line of print makers, and like Kiyonaga, the fourth head of the Torii line, specialises in bijinga-e or beauty prints. Dated, Showa yonen jugatsu (Showa 4 (1929), 10th month) signed Kotondo saku with Kotondo seal. The first state with limited edition hand seal au verso, number 82 of an edition of 200, the publisher's seal Sakai-Kawaguchi go ban.
£4200
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Torii Kotondo 1900-1976
Combing the Hair
- Category
- Japanese | Beauties
- Publisher
- Sawai and Kawaguchi
- Blockcutter
- hori ito, suri komatsu
Dai Oban, 29.4 cm × 46.0 cm
Very good impression, colour and condition. Very minimal toning au verso.
A crouching beauty combs her hair, amidst the swirling blue steam that envelops her naked body, beautifully rendered with a subtle pink outline. Published circa 1930 solely by Kawaguchi, after his split from Sawai. Signed Kotondo saku, with artist's seal Kotondo. Dated Showa yonen jugatsu (Showa 4 (1929), 10th month), title Kamisuki embossed within the bottom margin, publisher's seal Kawaguchi embossed at lower right edge, and hori Ito suri, Komatsu, hanken shoyu (carved by Ito, printed by Komatsu, copyright) at lower left. Embossed limited edition seal hand-numbered on verso, San-hyaku mai kagiri zeppan, dai nijusan go, 23/300
£3750
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SHINSUI Itō (1898-1972)
Firefly (Hotaru). 6/1934.
- Category
- Japanese | Beauties
- Series
- The Second Series of Modern Beauties (Gendai bijinshu dai-nishu)
- Publisher
- Shōzaburō Watanabe. Ed. 115/250
dai ōban tate-e, 28.4 cm × 44.0 cm
Excellent impression, colour and condition.
A beautiful woman, wearing a light summer yukata, catches a firefly with her uchiwa fan. Fireflies are ephemeral creatrues. They emerge from their crysallis in June and viewing the fireflies' glow on a summer's evening has always been a popular pastime in Japan (Hotaru-gari).
Signed Shinsui ga with artist's seal Shinsui. Dated Showa kyunen rokugatsu (Showa 9 [1934], June with Watanabe C 'sausage seal (1929-1942) in right margin. Numbered on verso 115/250.
£3200
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SHINSUI Itō (1898-1972)
Han'eri (Collar of an undergarment). 1929.
- Category
- Japanese | Beauties
- Series
- Gentai bijinshu dai isshu (Modern Beauties - first series)
- Publisher
- Shōzaburō Watanabe. Edition 132/250.
dai ōban tate-e., 28.9 cm × 43.8 cm
Excellent impression and colour. Very light trace of mounting residue upper corner verso, otherwise excellent condition.
A woman sewing a han'eri collar with red thread, from the first series of Modern Beauties. Signed Shinsui ga with Shinsui seal. Published by Shōzaburō Watanabe in an limited edition of 132/250 printed verso, followed by the publisher's rectangular Watanabe seal, c.1929.
£2950
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KUNISADA I/TOYOKUNI III (1786-1865)
Kiritsubo. 2/1858.
- Category
- Japanese | Beauties
- Series
- Genji goshû yojô.
- Publisher
- Sakanaya Eikichi.
- Blockcutter
- Yokogawa Takejirô.
ôban tate-e, 25.6 cm × 37.4 cm
Excellent impression, with karazuri (blind printing) and excellent colour. Tiny paper nick lower left side (possibly intrinsic), otherwise very good condition. The left panel of a diptych.
Sugibae carries a kimono for her mistress Hanagiri, the shogun's favourite concubine. Hanagiri soiled the hem of her robe while inadvertently stepping in fish intestines which had been scattered in her path by spiteful rivals at court. As Sugibae scampers away with the dirty dress, she lights her path with a tetoro hand lantern to avoid the fish guts.
This print is from Kunisada's series "Lasting Impressions of a Late Genji Collection", illustrating Ryûtei Tanehiko's A Fake Murasaki, transposing the 11th century classic novel "A Tale of Genji" into the contemporaneous culture of mid-19th century Edo. Signed Toyokuni ga.
£350
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UTAMARO II (d.1831)
The Courtesan Shigeoka of the Okamoto-ya. c.1810-20
- Category
- Japanese | Beauties
- Publisher
- Izumi-ya Ichibei
oban tate-e, 26.5 cm × 38.1 cm
Good impression, fresh colour. Surface soil, marks, rubbing (publisher mark) and tiny, expert edge-repair lower right corner, otherwise good condition. S.M Shiba dealer seal au verso.
The courtesan Shigeoka of the Okamoto-ya brothel stretches out her arms to display a magnificent kimono, decorated with plovers taking flight over a meandering stream. The kimono was the courtesans prized possession, and a source of great rivalry within the trade. Stories abound of courtesans attempting to usurp one another with originality in design.
For another impression see Museum Volkenkunde Leiden.
£1275
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EISEN Keisai. (1790-1848)
Yokkaichi: Hanazono of the Miu-raya. c.1821
- Category
- Japanese | Beauties
- Series
- Tôkaidô Board Game of Courtesans. Keisei dôchû sugoroku.
- Publisher
- Tsutaya Kichizo (Koeido)
oban tate-e, 25.1 cm × 37.1 cm
Excellent impression and colour. Some soil along the right side and trimmed, otherwise very good condition.
The courtesan, Hanazono of the Miu-raya, clutches a wad of paper tissues (kaishi) tucked into her obi while admiring a white orchid in a wall basket. The series (A Traveling Game with Yoshiwara Courtesans Matched with the Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido) is a mitate, an unexpected juxtaposition, in which famous courtesans are paralleled with a station from the Tokaido road. The inset shows Yokkachi, the forty-third post en route from Edo to Kyoto.
Signed Keisai Eisen ga with 'kiwame' seal.
Boston Museum of Fine Arts Impression.
£1250
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Komura Settai 1887-1940
Shadow of the Cherry Tree.
- Category
- Japanese | Beauties
- Publisher
- Takamizawa
oban, 27.0 cm × 39.0 cm
Fine impression of the first state. Fine colour and condition.
A print titled 'Shadows of the Cherry Tree' by Komura Settai. His work is influenced by Suzuki Harunobu in its depiction of fragile, delicate beauties. This is probably the first edition, without the break in the shoji screen and the Takamizawa seal au verso. Another edition is on a larger sheet of paper but with flaws in the block. Signed Settai ga.
Illustrated in the Female Image, Plate 213.
£1800
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Keigetsu Kikuchi
The Heroine Koharu. c.1923.
- Category
- Japanese | Beauties
- Series
- Dai Chikamatsu Zenshu.
- Publisher
- Nishimura Komakichi
- Engraver
- Yamagishi Kazue.
large dai-oban, 28.8 cm × 43.0 cm
Very good impression, embellished with silver. Very good colour and condition.
A tragic story of unrequited love, with the double suicide (shinju) of Kamiya Jihei, a paper merchant and Kinokuniya Koharu, a courtesan from the Kita-Shinchi pleasure quarter. The pull between obligation (giri) and the emotions of unrequited love (ninjo) would provide a theatrical pathos on the Kabuki stage. Koharu, holding a pipe, muses over her predicament. Her true love to the married Jihei can only be realised through death and subsequent Buddhist re-incarnation.
Signed Keigetsu. ref: Page 94 Newland, Amy R.; and S. Hamanaka, "The Female Image: 20th Century Prints of Japanese Beauties", Leiden: Hotei, 2000
£480
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Toyokuni III/Utagawa KUNISADA (1786-1864)
The Fireflies. Chapter No.25.
- Category
- Japanese | Beauties
- Series
- Lasting Impressions of a Late Genji Collection.
- Publisher
- Wakasaya Yoichi.
- Blockcutter
- Suguwa Sennosuke.
Oban tate-e, 26.4 cm × 38.0 cm
Superb impression and colour. A very small bleed of the red around the cartouche, otherwise very good condition. Full size sheet.
The left sheet of the diptych from Chapter No.25 “The Fireflies. Hotaru” from the series, Genji goshû yojô. The series illustrates scenes loosely based on A Rustic Genji and A Related Rustic Village. The prints were luxuriously produced on thick paper, with fine bokashi, burnishing and blind printing, as evident in this example. Signed Toyokuni ga, with publisher’s seal
£190
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EISHI Hosoda (1756-1829)
Fukurokuju. 1795.
- Category
- Japanese | Beauties
- Series
- Fukujin takara awase.
- Publisher
- Nishimuraya Yohachi.
oban tate-e, 25.0 cm × 39.0 cm
Excellent impression and good colour with slight fading to the yellow ground. Good condition with minor soil. Large sheet.
A beauty is likened to Fukurokuji, one of the Seven Gods of Fortune in Japanese mythology. His emblems are represented here by the staff (to which his sacred book is tied) and the crane, a symbol of longevity. The girl raises her sleeve to conceal her emotions, a common device in beauty prints. The series title 'Comparison of the Treasures of the Seven Gods of Good Fortune' is written on the hand scroll, along with makimono (scholars scrolls), one of the traditional takaramono (myriad treasures) associated with the gods. Signed Eishi ga
£2600