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KUNISADA I/TOYOKUNI III (1786-1865)
Sekidera. c.1840
- Category
- Japanese | Beauties
- Series
- Tosei mitate nana Komachi.
- Publisher
- Arita-ya Seiemon.
oban tate-e, 24.8 cm × 36.3 cm
Excellent impression and colour. Expertly filled binding holes to the right. Trimmed at the top, otherwise very good condition.
A punning allusion to a scene from the life of the legendary Heian poet, Ono no Komachi. "Sekidera" (barrier temple) is the third of seven "Komachi stories" in which the abbot and child acolytes of Sekidera monastery find an elderly woman living in poverty. The priest realises that he is in the presence of the poetess, her legendary beauty now faded . They speak of Japanese poetry and he persuades her to take part in the Tanabata festival at the monastery, whereupon she dances with the children until dawn and recaptures some of her youthful exuberance.
A beauty sits next to a poem card, looking into a make-up compact and dabs her complexion with a damp cloth, perhaps parodying the transient beauty of youth. Cherry blossoms are blind-printed (karazuri) in the background. In the fourteenth century play "Sekidera", Komachi says "If you will make your heart the seed and your words the blossoms, if you will steep yourself in the fragrance of the art, you will not fail to accomplish true poetry". Signed Kochoro Kunisada ga. Kiwame seal.
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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.
£380
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KUNISADA I/TOYOKUNI III (1786-1865)
Actors in role. 10/1858
- Category
- Japanese | Actors And Kabuki
- Publisher
oban diptych, 53.0 cm × 36.0 cm
Very good impression, colour and condition.
The actors Ichikawa Ebizō V as Saimyōji Tokiyori, Asao Yoroku II as Izumobo and Ichikawa Kodanji IV as Umashi Toroku in a Kabuki adaptation of the drama "The Potted Trees". Lord Kamakura (Saimyōji Tokiyori) travels his lands disguised as a priest and seeks to reinstate the mistreated lord, Sano Ganzaemon, with the legitimate repossession of his stolen lands. Saimyōji Tokiyori clutches a chest and his rosary beads by a fire. His servant Izumobo is wearing kneepads from chopping the wood to kindle the fire, the sub-zero temperatures evident from their frozen noses.
Signed Toyokuni ga.
£380
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KUNISADA I/TOYOKUNI III (1786-1865)
Fukagawa Iyo setsu. 1855
- Category
- Japanese | 20th Century
- Publisher
- Iseba Magobei
chuban, 29.5 cm × 23.0 cm
Excellent impression with splashed gofun to imitate snow. Pristine colour. One small wormhole, expertly restored, otherwise very good condition.
Fukagawa Iyo setsu. Iyo Province; Time in Fukagawa. An uncut fan print depicting a snow scene and a beauty clutching her hair pin. Dated third month, 1855. Another copy of this fan print is at the Ukiyo-e Museum, Matsumoto, Japan. Illustrated on Pg 221 of 'Japanese Woodblock Prints' by Andreas Marks.
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KUNISADA I/TOYOKUNI III (1786-1865)
Sudden Shower on the Way Home from the Fuji Festival (Fuji kaeri no yûdachi). 1827.
- Category
- Japanese | 20th Century
- Series
- Contest of Present-day Beauties (Tôsei bijin awase)
- Publisher
- Moritaya Hanzô
we, 26.0 cm × 38.0 cm
Very good impression. Very good colour, slight turning to the purple. Imperceptible centre fold (only light au verso) otherwise very good condition.
A beauty dashes home after the Fuji festival, during a sudden evening rainstorm, the wind battering her paper umbrella. The straw snake in the inset is a souvenir of the Fuji Festival celebrating the annual opening of Mount Fuji to pilgrims on the first day of the sixth month. Residents of Edo visited mounds representing Fuji in locations such as Asakusa or Komagome. Published in 1827. Signed Gototei Kunisada ga, with Kiwame censor’s seal. Another impression can be located in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.
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KUNISADA I/TOYOKUNI III (1786-1865)
Seki Sanjoro III as Chojiya Chobei. 1860
- Category
- Japanese | 20th Century
- Series
- Mirrors for Collage Pictures in the Modern Style
- Publisher
- Fujiokaya Keijiro.
- Blockcutter
- Hori Take.
oban, 27.5 cm × 39.5 cm
Excellent deluxe impression with lacquer, embossing and printed on thick hosho. Pristine colour and excellent condition. Full size.
The actor Seki Sanjuro III as Chojiya Chobei, from the series Mirrors for Collage Pictures in the Modern Style (Imayô oshi-e kagami). Dated 1/1860.
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