Size: 83.4 x 83.1 x 4.4 mm
NTHK certified KANTEISHO ("Important Work"). In a custom wooden box. For information regarding shakoh tsuba see article 'Kirishitan Ikenie Tsuba by Fred Geyer at Kokusai Tosogu Kai; The 2nd International Convention & Exhibition, October 18-23, 2006, pp. 84-91.-
Iron tsuba of mokko form with slanting rays of light (shakoh) Christian motif (Jesuit's IHS symbol) in openwork (sukashi). Traditional description of this kind of design is called "tokei", or "clock gear". Owari school. Edo period. -
A hardcover pictorial album, 25 x 25.5 cm, bound in black buckram with silver lettering to spine, in pictorial dust jacket; pp.: [1-6] 7-175 [176 blank], total 88 leaves, illustrated in colour throughout. Title-page: Shunga | EROTIC ART | IN JAPAN | ROSINA BUCKLAND | THE BRITISH MUSEUM PRESS || Subject: Art, Japanese – Edo period, 1600-1868; Erotic art – Japan; Prints, Japanese – History. Contributor: Rosina Buckland (British, b. 1974) -
One volume 24.2 x 16.2 x 5.2 cm, in black cloth lettered in gilt to front cover and spine, pp.: i-vii] viii-xxxix [xl blank] [2] 3-572 [2], total 307 leaves, with b/w illustrations. Title-page: KABUKI | ENCYCLOPEDIA | An English-Language | Adaptation of | KABUKI JITEN | SAMUEL L. LEITER | {publisher’s device “GP”} | GREENWOOD PRESS | WESTPORT, CONNECTICUT • LONDON, ENGLAND || Author: Samuel L. Leiter (American, b. 1940) -
Sentoku tsuba of oval form with Sennin (Chinese immortal) motif carved in low relief (katakiribori). The Sennin is depicted with a double gourd in his right hand and a child beside his left hip. A pine tree carved on the reverse.
Signed: Sōmin saku (宗眠作) [M.Sesko]. Yokoya School (see The Japanese toso-kinko Schools by Markus Sesko, pp. 133-8).
Edo period (second half of the 18th century). Dimensions: Height: 61.6 mm; Width: 56.4 mm; Thickness: 4.2 mm; Weight: 85 g. -
Kozuka with seven insects (fly, grasshopper, bee, butterfly, dragonfly, firefly, and cricket) and grass with dewdrops motif. Shakudō, flush gold inlay (hira-zōgan). 95.2 (H) x 13.7 mm (W). Mid Edo period (Late 17th - early 18th century, Genroku era 1688-1703). Unsigned. Kaga school. A look-a-like kozuka (with five insects) is illustrated at Japanese Sword Fittings. A descriptive catalogue of the Collection of G.H. Naunton, Esq., completed and illustrated by Henri L. Joly, - 1912 on plate XXIX, №691 [LIB-1389 in this Collection] with the following description at page 54: "Shakudō, inlaid with butterfly, dragon-fly, grasshopper, locust and another insect, gold."
See also tsuba TSU-0211 in this collection:
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Shakudō tsuba of the slightly vertically elongated round form (nagamaru-gata) decorated by gold in flat inlay (hira-zōgan) with three insects (cricket, locust, and praying mantis), grass and dewdrops motif. Kogai hitsu-ana is plugged with gilded soft metal. Height: 70.2 mm; width: 66.4 mm x Thickness at seppa-dai: 4.5 mm. Edo period (from ca. 1700 to ca. 1850) Unsigned. Attributed to Kaga School or Murakami School. Almost identical tsuba (no dewdrops, though) is illustrated and described at page 60 of Kokusai Tosogu Kai. 7th International Convention & Exhibition, November 1st, 2011 at Tokyo National Museum, page 60. It is attributed to the Kaga School, Mid Edo period (Late 17th - early 18th century). Dimensions: 70.5 x 66 x 4.5 mm. "The rich black shakudo plate has been slightly lowered (dished out) and then polished. Gold insects crawl amongst grasses, depicted by Kaga style hirazogan (flat inlay). One tendril of the mantis overlaps onto seppa-dai. The mantis boldly looks out from the tsuba in a curious way. This style of Kaga tsuba was popular during the Genroku era (1688-1703)."Another source is Japanese Sword Fittings. A descriptive catalogue of the Collection of G.H. Naunton, Esq., completed and illustrated by Henri L. Joly, - 1912:
7-U17. Ron Hartmann Collection.
Kanazawa in Kaga was a centre of fine metal work during the whole of the Tokugawa period. At first the inlayers of Fushimi following the Daimyo Maeda went to Kanazawa, then some of the Gotō masters proceeded from Kyoto for short periods to work for the Daimyo, so that their influence was strongly impressed upon Kaga work..." A somewhat look-a-like tsuba is illustrated at plate XXVIII, Kaga Inlay, №653 with the following description at page 52: "Shakudō, inlaid with five insects in gold: crickets, praying mantis, grasshopper, in the style of Takagawara Ujitsugu.
According to M. Sesko, Ujitsugu was a master from Katsuki and Kaneko School in Kaga, son of Ujihira. Ujihira's father Ujiyoshi died in 1802. This brings us to the mid-19th century, instead of mid-18th or earlier. On the other hand, a very much look alike specimen at MFA collection (ACCESSION NUMBER 17.1061) has the with the following description: Edo period. Late 18th–early 19th century. Murakami School. Main material: shakudo; other metals: gold; decorative technique: iroe hirazogan.A detailed account of Murakami school can be found at The Japanese toso-kinko Schools.// Lulu Inc., 2012 by Markus Sesko, on pages 235-239. All-in-all, it's either Kaga School or Murakami School, either ca. 1700 or ca. 1850. Quite a range! SOLD
MFA # 17.1061
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The print lacks signature. It is attributed by some to Suzuki Harunobu and by the others to Isoda Koryūsai.Attributed to Koryūsai: Pins #517/p.209, c. 1775 [AIC II: Clarence Buckingham Collection, 1925.2772], Ukiyo-e Taisei IV; Vignier & Inada, 1911; Ritsumeikan University Z0165-239.
Attributed to Harunobu: Pins #239/p.132.; BM 1906,1220,0.85;
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Suzuki Harunobu (鈴木 春信; c. 1725 – 15 July 1770).The Ide Jewel River, a Famous Place in Yamashiro Province (Ide no Tamagawa, Yamashiro no meisho), from the series The Six Jewel Rivers in Popular Customs (Fûzoku Mu Tamagawa).
Signed: Harunobu gaInscription - Poem: Koma tomete/ nao mizu kawan/ yamabuki no/ hana no tsuyu sou/ Ide no Tamagawa
References:MFA # 21.4540.
Waterhouse cat. #562; Pins, The Japanese Pillar Print (1982), #139; Ukiyo-e shûka 4 (1979), list #795.4, and supp. 2 (1982), pl. 565; Gentles, AIC cat. II (1965), p. 125, #201.
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Hardcover volume in 8vo, 21.2 x 15.4 cm, tan cloth with black on gilt background circular publisher’s device "TFU" to front cover, gilt-stamped compartments and burgundy labels with gilt lettering to spine. Ink inscription to fep verso dated Jan 18, 1907. Publisher's device and serial device to h.t. Title-page: ❦❦❦ THE MEMOIRS AND | TRAVELS OF MAURITIUS AUGUSTUS COUNT DE | BENYOWSKY | IN SIBERIA, KAMCHATKA, JAPAN, THE LIUKIU ISLANDS AND FORMOSA | FROM THE TRANSLATION OF HIS | ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT (1741–1771), | BY WILLIAM NICHOLSON, F.R.S., 1790 | EDITED BY CAPTAIN | PASFIELD OLIVER | ILLUSTRATED | LONDON: T. FISHER UNWIN, | PATERNOSTER SQUARE. MDCCCXCIII ❦❦❦ ||. Collation/Pagination: [1]-258 plus 7 plates, incl. frontispiece and 1 map. [1, 2] – serial h.t. "The Adventure Series" / advert. THE ADVENTURE SERIES. Illustrated. Crown 8vo, 5s. 17 titles, [3, 4] – t.p. / blank, [5] 6-9 contents, [10] blank, [11, 12] illustrations/blank, [13] 14-52 introduction, 53-399, [400] colophon: THE GRESHAM PRESS, | URWIN BROTHERS, | CHILWORTH AND LONDON. Contributors: Publisher: T. Fisher Unwin (London); Thomas Fisher Unwin (British, 1848 – 1935). Author: Maurice Auguste count de Benyowsky [Мориц Август Бенёвский] (Polish-Slovak-Hungarian, 1746 –1786). Editor: Samuel Pasfield Oliver (British, 1838 – 1907). Translator: William Nicholson (British, 1753 – 1815). Originally published in 1790, in London (I have not seen it anywhere) and in Dublin by P. Wogan [etc.], and in 1791 in French, in Paris by Buisson; see LIB-2742.2021. For another copy of the same edition, see LIB-3139.2023. For the 1904 edition, see LIB-2703.2021. -
Softcover, pictorial wrappers, pp.: 1-200, il.Foreword: A treasure trove of ukiyo-e prints / Kobayashi Tadashi The Grabhorn ukiyo-e collection at the Asian Art Museum / Melissa M. Rinne Edwin Grabhorn : passionate printer and print collector / Julia Meech Figures of humans and animals : some early Japanese color prints from the Grabhorn Collection / David Waterhouse. Edwin Grabhorn (1889—1968), co-founder of the Grabhorn Press, Northern California's premier letterpress printer, was a pioneer American collector of Japanese prints. The Grabhorn prints in the collection of the Asian Art Museum comprise the upper echelons of the original collection. The collection includes a superb selection of early monochrome and hand-colored ukiyo-e prints by Sugimura Jihei, Torii Kiyonobu, Okumura Masanobu and others, from the seminal decades of the woodblock print production in the late 1600s and early 1700s.
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The sword mountings of Higo Province adapted from the Higo Kinkoroku of S. Nagaya by Gustav Jacoby, with 67 illustrations and an appendix listing the signatures of the Higo masters. Translated from the German by Emil T. H. Bunje, PhD.
Book size: 24.5 x 18.4 cm/
Softbound, original grey paper wrappers with black lettering.
Higo Kinkoroku, or Register of Metalworkers of Higo Province, published in 1902 in Tokyo by the Japanese Colonel Nagaya Shigena with a preface by viscount Nagaoka Moriyoshi, scion of the Hoshikawa family, Daimyo of Kumamoto in Higo Province.
Translated from the orignial: Die schwertzieraten der provinz Higo. Bearbeitet nach dem japanischen werke Higo Kinkoroku des S. Nagaya, von Gustav Jacoby. Mit 67 Abbildungen und einem Anhang: Die bezeichnungen der Higo-meister. 5. beiheft zum Jahrbuch der hamburgischen wissenschaftlichen anstalten. XXII. 1904. Hamburg, Lucas Gräfe & Sillem, 1905. - 62 p. illus., pl. [LIB-1947.2019] -
Artist: Torii Kiyonaga [鳥居 清長] (Japanese, 1752 – 1815) Color woodblock print: makimono-e (11.4 x 65.4 cm). Year: c. 1785. Three sheets of the series of twelve, № 6, № 9, and № 11, "from Kiyonaga's most idiosyncratic and celebrated series of pornography. It was designed as part of a miniature handscroll (makimono) to place in one's sleeve, where it was carried both for its stimulatory and for its talismanic properties." [LIB-1474.2018] Important Japanese prints from the collection of Henry Steiner by Sebastian Izzard.]№ 6: "The woman's blackened teeth indicate that she is a wife. This middle-aged couple is relaxing and drowsing after lovemaking. The scene is peaceful now., but the pillow cast aside hints at their earlier, passionate lovemaking".
Picture № 6. (31d in LIB-2971.2022)
№ 9: "This looks to be the first sexual experience of a young woman of a well-to-do family, who covers her mouth shyly. The more experienced man moistens his fingers with saliva, eager to explore the young woman's body".
Picture № 9.
№ 11: "The woman wears a so-called Iwata sash signalling that she is pregnant. The man approaches from behind so as not to put pressure on her stomach. He shows care and gentle consideration toward his pregnant wife, who appears relaxed". Picture descriptions from Shunga: Sex and Pleasure in Japanese art. Edited by Timothy Clark, C. Andrew Gerstle, Aki Ishigami, Akiki Yano. Hotei Publishing, 2013. Ref.: [LIB-2971.2022] Chris Uhlenbeck, Margarita Winkel. Japanese erotic fantasies sexual imagery of the Edo period. — Amsterdam: Hotei Publishing, ©2005; p. 118-9 (№ 31).
Picture № 11. (31g in LIB-2971.2022)
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A yamagane tsuba of oval form with green-ish black patina decorated in usuniku-bori carving and gold iroe with wisteria (fuji) motif plus nanako-ji ground on both sides. Kozuka-hitsu-ana possibly cut later.
Unsigned.
Momoyama or may be even Muromachi period. Dimensions: 70.0 x 61.2 x 5.0 (center) mm -
Hardcover, 20.8 x 13.2 cm; publisher's original green cloth with black and gilt lettering to front and spine; pictorial endpapers. Gift ms inscription from Irina Komarova to Yury and Elvina Varshavsky to front free endpaper's verso: "Прослышав, что теперь для Юры / Нет ничего милей гравюры, / Литературу я отныне / Дарю из принципа Эльвине! / И. / Февраль 86". Pp.: [2] 3-477 [3], collation 16mo: 1-1516 (total 240 leaves) plus portrait frontispiece. Title-page: Джон Фаулз | ПОДРУГА | ФРАНЦУЗСКОГО | ЛЕЙТЕНАНТА | РОМАН | Перевод с английского | М. Беккер и И. Комаровой | под редакцией Н. Рахмановой | {vignette} | {publisher’s device} | ЛЕНИНГРАД | «ХУДОЖЕСТВЕННАЯ ЛИТЕРАТУРА» | ЛЕНИНГРАДСКОЕ ОТДЕЛЕНИЕ• 1985 || T.p. verso: […] | JOHN FOWLES | THE FRENCH LIEUTENANT'S WOMAN | Вступительная статья А. ДОЛИНИНА | Примечания М. БЕККЕР | Оформление художников | Н. ВАСИЛЬЕВА и Э. КАПЕЛЮША | […] || Contributors: Беккер, Мэри Иосифовна (Russian, 1920 – 2010) Комарова, Ирина Бенедиктовна (Russian, b. 1933) Рахманова, Наталия Леонидовна (Russian, b. 1930)
