Hover to zoom or click for full-size image.
SHUNSEN Natori. (1886-1960)
Onoe Shoroku as the priest in Tsuchigumo. 1951.
- Category
- Japanese | Miscellaneous
- Series
- New Stage Portraits.
- Publisher
- Shōzaburō Watanabe.
ōban tate-e, 26.7 cm × 39.4 cm
Excellent impression, colour and condition.
Shunsen is considered to be the last great master of yakusha-e (actor prints). In this work he depicts the actor Onoe Shoroku in the role of the priest in Tsuchigumo. Signed Shunsen with artist's red maple leaf seal, published by Watanabe Shozaburo, ca. 1952.
Sold
Hover to zoom or click for full-size image.
Azechi Umetarô 1902-1999
Fighting Bulls in Iyo. 1946.
- Category
- Japanese | Miscellaneous
- Series
- Picture notes on Native Customs.
- Publisher
- Fugaku Shuppansha.
aiban yoko-e, 26.0 cm × 21.0 cm
Excellent impression, colour and very good condition. Upper right corner is attached to the original mat.
Spectators watching a bull fight (Tōgyū) in Iyo, Tōgyū is very different from the Spanish and Portuguese forms of bull fighting. No humans or blood are involved, and during matches, the bulls lock horns, in an attempt to ground one another until one of the bulls fatigues. Tōgyū was particularly popular in the Shōwa period. This print dates from 1946, when matches would have recommenced in the Ehime prefecture shortly after the Second World War. From a series ‘Nihon minzoku zufu’, depicting native customs of Japan. Umetaro Azechi’s prints of mountains and mountaineers are his most distinctive work. Azechi attributes the simplicity of his compositions to the strong influence of Onchi, for who he frequently worked as an artisan painter. Red seal in the lower right corner.
Sold
Hover to zoom or click for full-size image.
TOYOKUNI III/Utagawa KUNISADA (1786-1865)
Tamakazura.
- Category
- Japanese | Miscellaneous
- Series
- Genji goshû yojô.
- Publisher
- Sakanaya Eikichi.
- Blockcutter
- Yokogawa Takejirô.
oban tate-e, 27.0 cm × 38.0 cm
Excellent impression and pristine colour. Red cartouche transfer stain (from another print placed on top), light fold line along the left edge. Otherwise very good condition.
The Tendril Wreath Chapter 22; the right panel from the Lasting Impressions of a Late Genji Collection. The woman wears a wears a kimono, decorated with colourful chrysanthemums. The poem associated with this chapter reads “Yes, my love lives on, just as it did long ago:yet< Otendril warmth, say what long and winding stem led you all the way to me”. Signed Toyokuni ga, with publisher’s seal.
Sold
Hover to zoom or click for full-size image.
TOYOKUNI III/Utagawa KUNISADA (1786-1865)
Matsukaze. Wind in the Pines.
- Category
- Japanese | Miscellaneous
- Series
- Lasting Impressions of a Late Genji Collection.
- Publisher
- Wakasaya Yoichi.
- Blockcutter
- Suguwa Sennosuke.
oban tate-e, 26.0 cm × 38.0 cm
Superb impression, with extensive blind printing. Pristine colour and excellent condition.
The left sheet of the diptych from Chapter No.18 “Wind in the Pines” 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 and the blockcutter seals also attributed.
£190
Hover to zoom or click for full-size image.
Meiji Artist. Unsigned. Late 19th Century
Kasuga Gongen genki-e.
- Category
- Japanese | Miscellaneous
- Publisher
- Unknown.
hexhaptych, 200.0 cm × 42.0 cm
Excellent impression with mica (kirazuri) and lacquer. Excellent colour. A couple of foxing spots on the final sheet to the left, otherwise very good condition.
A Meiji hexaptych, copied from the illustrated scroll on silk of the Miraculous Origins of the Kasuga Deity (Kasuga Gongen genki-e). Emperors and members of the Imperial family made pilgrimages to the Kasuga shrine during the Heian period. The curtained platform (michō), imperial cart (gosho guruma) and eight courtiers in formal black attire mark an auspicious event. The floating blue clouds and roofless interiors (fukinuki yatai; here offering a glimpse of two court ladies within the palace) are typical of Yamato-e, traditional Japanese style painting. Unsigned, late 19th century.
£320
Hover to zoom or click for full-size image.
Hide Kawanishi. (1894 - 1965)
Circus.
- Category
- Japanese | Miscellaneous
- Publisher
- Self printed
N/A, 17.5 cm × 26.0 cm
Excellent impression, colour and condition. Print comes with original folder.
The circus is common theme in Hide Kawanishi’s prints. In this print, horses gallop with horseback riders around the circus ring; the horse trainer standing centre with his whip. Kawanishi was inspired by the advertising posters of a German circus troupe visiting Japan. Printed in the early 1930’s. The print comes with the original folder. Signed Hide Kawanishi in pencil, and signed and seal in the block.
£420
Hover to zoom or click for full-size image.
Toyokuni III/Utagawa KUNISADA (1786-1864)
The Picture Contest. E-awase.
- Category
- Japanese | Miscellaneous
- Series
- Lasting Impressions of a Late Genji Collection.
- Publisher
- Sakanaya Eikichi.
- Blockcutter
- Yokogawa Takejirô.
- Engraver
- we
oban diptych, 53.0 cm × 38.0 cm
Very good impression and colour. A repaired wormhole, and very slight toning to the right sheet, otherwise very good condition.
The Picture Contest, 'E-awase' 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 and the blockcutter seals also attributed. Printed II/1858.
£280
Hover to zoom or click for full-size image.
SEKINO Jun'ichiro (1914-1988)
Konosuke Hinatsu, 1952
- Category
- Japanese | Miscellaneous
- Publisher
- Self printed.
Large print., 51.0 cm × 71.0 cm
Excellent impression, colour and condition. Mica grey ground.
A portrait of the poet Kōnosuke Hinatsu by Jun'ichiro Sekino, printed in 1952. Hinatsu Konosuke was a professor of English at Waseda University. His work was influenced by English writers such as Wilde and Edgar Allen-Poe. He also translated many works of English literature into Japanese. Edition 32 of 50. Signed in pencil with red seal. Reference; Behind Paper Walls: Early Works and Portraits by Jun’Ichiro Sekino and The Male Image (Amsterdam, Nihon no hanga exh. cat. 6, 2011), fig. 31; Sekino Jun'ichirô hanga sakuhin shû (1997), list #129, photo p. 140. For another impression see Boston Museum of Fine Arts.
£1650
Hover to zoom or click for full-size image.
Shibata Zeshin. (1807-1891)
The Cup of Long Life. 1883.
- Category
- Japanese | Miscellaneous
- Publisher
- Privately published for Kameda Hozan.
large scale surimono, 57.8 cm × 43.4 cm
Excellent impression, with lacquer and metallic pigments. Superb colour. The usual folds, otherwise very good condition.
A large scale surimono by Shibata Zeshin, depicting a large black lacquer box, engraved with ‘long life sake cup, while the red cup is decorated with many variations of the character for long life, ‘kotobuki’. Signed Zeshin, with seal.
£300