Ivory netsuke with a design of a man (possibly - Ariōmaru) wrestling a giant octopus.
Circa 1850. Dimensions: 45.5 x 48.3 x 37.8 mmUnsigned.
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Title: John Carter's | ABC | for book collectors | Ninth Edition | Nicolas Barker & Simran Thadani | {publisher’s device} | Oak Knoll Press | New Castle, Delaware | 2016 | [TITLE-PAGE] || Pagination: [1-6] 7-263 [264]. Binding: 21 x 13.5 cm; black cloth, silver lettering to spine, pictorial dust jacket. Carter, John (British, 1905 – 1975) – author. Barker, Nicolas (British, b. 1932) – author Thadani, Simran – author -
Iron tsuba of quatrefoil form with design of bamboo stems and leaves in openwork (sukashi) decorated with carving (kebori) . Copper sekigane. Early Edo period, late 17th century (Kanbun / Enppo era). First generation Kanshiro of Nishigaki school in Higo Province died in the sixth year of Genroku, 1693, at the age of 81). Height: 74.4 mm; Width: 74.2 mm; Centre thickness: 4.9 mm. Rounded rim. The design was quite popular among the Higo masters.
Kanshiro III, early 18th century (Sasano 1994 №267)
Matashichi I, late 17th century (Sasano 1994 №270)
The design of my tsuba closely resembles the one at the last example (Sasano 1994 №280), however, the form (mine is quatrefoil) and the execution (strength) are very different, which result in a very different spirit of my piece.
Shigemitsu II, early 18th century (Sasano 1994 №280)
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Large iron tsuba with hammer marks on the surface, small oval opening to the right of nakaga-ana; yamagane fukurin chiselled with tortois shell diaper pattern.
Early Muromachi period (1393-1453). Size: 101.2 x 101.9 x 2.4 (center), 5.2 (rim) mm; weight: 148.4 g. -
Description: In-8vo volume, 19.4 x 14 cm, bound in red cloth with gilt lettering to front cover and spine, in a pictorial dust jacket with a photo portrait of the author by Kay Bell to the rear, DJ and in-text illustrations by Maurice Sendak; pp. [i-x] xi-xvii [xviii] [2] 3-190, total 208 pages. Dust Jacket front: You Can't | Get There | From Here | {vignette} | OGDEN NASH || Title-page: OGDEN NASH | You Can't Get There | From Here | {vignettes} | DRAWINGS BY MAURICE SENDAK | Boston • LITTLE, BROWN AND COMPANY • Toronto || Edition: 1957, 8th printing; (1st edition in 1953) Contributors: Ogden Nash (American, 1902 – 1971) – author. Maurice Sendak (Jewish-American, 1928 – 2012) – artist. Kay Bell Reynal (American, 1905 – 1977) – photographer. -
Portrait of Russian actress Maria Gavrilovna Savina, a lithograph on tan paper, by artist Osip Braz, 1900.
Maria Gavrilovna Savina (Мария Гавриловна Савина), a renowned Russian stage actress, born as Maria Podramentsova (Подраменцова) on April 11, 1854 in Kamianets-Podilskyi (Ukraine, Russian Empire) and died on September 21, 1915, in Saint Petersburg. Osip Emmanuilovich Braz (Осип Эммануилович Браз; 16 January 1873 in Odessa - 6 November 1936 near Paris) was a Russian painter of Jewish descent. Imprisoned by the Soviets in 1924 (the Solovki special prison-camp), released in 1926 and emigrated to Germany in 1928. Married to Lola Landshoff. http://russia-ic.com/people/culture_art/b/805/ "All his family members suffered from severe tuberculosis. After losing his wife Lola Lantsgof and both sons, he spent the last year of his life alone. Osip Braz passed away on November 6, 1936, and was laid down to rest at the Bagneux Cemetery in Paris." Buried at Bagneux, Hauts-de-Seine, Île-de-France, France. -
Of the limited edition of 1150 copies, this is №54 (on Japan paper, signed by Bartsch and by von Bayros). Owner's binding imitating quarter-morocco, a red label with gilt lettering to spine (possibly by Ms Hunt, who was an amateur bookbinder). Bookplate on front pastedown: "Ex libris Rachel McMasters Miller Hunt | S. B. Hill Dec 1913 | A.J. Downey Sc." Alfred James Downey (1882-1944). Rachel McMasters Miller Hunt (1882-1963). Sarah B. Hill had done lettering for Ms Hunt. On back pastedown: Stamp "Hunt Libraries CMU" and sticker "Gotham Book Mart | 128 West 45th street | New York". This is from an edition of Carcassonne:
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One volume 23.5 x 16 x 6 cm, with glossy pictorial boards lettered to front, back and spine; pp.: [i-viii] ix-xlviii 1-766, total 407 leaves, with b/w illustrations. Title-page: Historical Dictionary of | Japanese Traditional Theatre | Second Edition | Samuel L. Leiter | ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD | Lanham • Boulder • New York • London || ISBN: 9781442239104. Author: Samuel L. Leiter (American, b. 1940) -
Seated portrait of Russian diplomat Count Semyon Romanovich Vorontsov (Семён Романович Воронцо́в; 26 June 1744 – 9 July 1832). Engraved by August Weger (Born: 1823 in Nürnberg; died: 1892 in Leipzig) from the portrait painted by Richard Evans (1784–1871). Circa 1825-50. Semyon Romanovich Vorontsov, the son of Count Roman Illarionovich and Marfa Ivanovna Surmina, was born on June 15, 1744; Active Privy Councillor; Ambassador to Venice and London from 1784, for over 20 years. Died in London on June 26, 1832.
Inscription: Графъ Семенъ Романовичь Воронцовъ. Родился въ Москвѣ Iюня 15-го/26 1744, Скончался въ Лондонѣ Iюня 9-го/21 1822. | Le Comte Simon Woronzow. né à Moscou le 26 Juin 1744, Mort à Londres le 21 Juin 1832. | Richd. Evans, Peintre. - Gravé par A. Weger, Leipzig. Vorontsov family coat of arms in the middle.
Dimensions: 23 x 15 cm. Ref.: Подробный словарь русских гравированных портретов Д. А. Ровинского, том. 1, 534-540. -
Iron tsuba of six-lobed (mutsu-mokkō-gata) form, with six wild boar's eye shape (inome) openings (sukashi). Ryo-Hitsu and the entire perimeter of tsuba have typical for this school raised rim; raised seppa dai. Lobes are decorated in low relief carving (sukidashi-bori). On the obverse: chrysanthemum, Genji mon, waves and rocks, grasses and star, bellflower, star and flower in tortoiseshell (kikko). On the reverse: Stars and different flowers, and flying geese. The plate is damaged to the left of nakago-ana and around the left hitsu-ana. Kamakura-bori school. Late Muromachi period (1514-1573). Diameter: 89 mm; Thickness at seppa-dai: 4.0 mm; Weight: 108.8 g [large]. There is a similar tsuba in this collection, TSU-0345.2018, but with a different motif and much smaller: diameter 74.3 mm, thickness at seppa-dai: 3.2 mm, weight: 62.8 g.Another look-a-like tsuba can be found at the Compton Collection, part II, pp. 14-15, №17, though his tsuba is more massive (80 x 84 x 4 mm).
Varshavsky Collection: TSU-0345.2018
This tsuba, TSU-0401.2019, is the biggest of all three (another mine and the one from Campton Collection). The presence of a flower in a tortoiseshell symbol (crest or mon) on this tsuba alludes to Izumo Shrine. The overall piece, with symbols of grasses, waves, flowers, incense, stars, and flying geese, is full of autumnal connotations.
Compton Collection, part II, pp. 14-15, №17: Kamakura-bori tsuba, ca. 1450.
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Iron tsuba with chrysanthemum design in openwork (sukashi). Copper sekigane.
Late Heian through Kamakura period (ca. 1150 - 1200's).
Size: 78.4 x 60.9 x 3.5 mm; weight: 45.7 g
Provenance: Boris Markhasin Message from Boris Markhasin (13-AUG-2019): It is a very rudimentary tachi tsuba, and the iron is old and really nothing to draw attention. However, this is a very old tsuba, and that is what makes it very special and an important study piece. This tsuba likely dates to the late Heian through Kamakura (ca. 1150 - 1200's) -- by consensus, since such examples are extremely rare, and none are mounted to my knowledge, so few direct analogues. The form is interesting for a variety of reasons. The smaller size, an oval form is associated more with 12th/13th c styles. The sukashi kiku motif is very interesting as it clearly pushes back the dating of large scale sukashi far back in time. This shouldn't be surprising, but for some reason, we (really mainly westerners) naively tend to associate sukashi with the Muromachi and younger. The two missing spokes are by consensus likely later removals to accommodate kozuka and kogai -- but this is not certain, and it could be an original styling. A key kantei point is the elongate, narrow, slightly squared seppa dai. This is a characteristic of early koshirae, which were much thinner and more delicate than the types we are used to seeing that date pretty much to the late Muromachi and later. I am always amazed when I have a chance to interrogate early koshirae at how thin they are - I want to call them fragile, but they were actually quite resilient. The walls were super thin, but the top and bottom edges were a bit thicker, providing a bit of structural support... but this is another thread topic. Of all the tsuba I have owned, this is the tsuba that has most clearly reflected the shape of the old style of saya / tsuka. -
Small iron tsuba (tantō size) of aoi form with the design of paulownia leaves and blossoms in copper and brass flat inlay (hira-zōgan). Brass sekigane. Open kozuka hitsu-ana.
Early Edo period, 17th century.
Size: 53.4 x 40.7 x 4.4 mm; weight: 47.4 g
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Title: The amorous drawings | {vignette} | of the | Marquis von Bayros | Part I | BRANDON HOUSE | NORTH HOLLYWOOD || Title page verso: A BRANDON HOUSE BOOK | PUBLISHED BY ARRANGEMENT WITH | CYTHERA PRESS | COPYRIGHT 1968 BY CYTHERA PRESS | ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. | MANUFACTURED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA || Pagination: [1-3] 4-238 [2], 292 illustrations within pagination. Content: Preface by Wilhelm M. Busch, biography of Von Bayros by Johann Pilz, two essays by Von Bayros; 292 illustrations by Marquis Franz von Bayros; Part I and II in one volume. Exterior: 28 x 22 cm, publisher's green wrappers with yellow lettering and fac-simile drawing of von Bayros to cover, lettering to spine. A re-print softcover edition of the original Cythera Press 1st edition, see: LIB-2246.2019 -
Title: The amorous drawings | of the | Marquis von Bayros | Part I | THE CYTHERA PRESS | NEW YORK Pagination: [1-3] 4-238 [2], 292 illustrations within pagination. Content: Preface by Wilhelm M. Busch, biography of Von Bayros by Johann Pilz, two essays by Von Bayros; 292 illustrations by Marquis Franz von Bayros; Part I and II in one volume. Exterior: 33 x 26 cm, publisher's black cloth with white lettering and fac-simile drawing of von Bayros to cover, white lettering to spine, similarly designed DJ. The original Cythera Press hardcover edition of 1968. -
![The erotic drawings of Mihály Zichy : Forty drawings. — New York: Grove Press Inc., 1969. — [2 intro.] + [40 ill.]](https://varshavskycollection.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/LIB-2244.2019-2-scaled-500x500.jpeg)
Description: Oblong volume, 22 x 27 cm, quarter cloth over marbled boards with gilt Zichy’s signature fac-simile and gilt lettering to spine in dust jacket lettered “The | Erotic | Drawings | of | Mihály | Zichy” on both front and back, blurbs on flaps, unclipped; printed on wove paper, unpaginated. Title-page: THE EROTIC DRAWINGS | OF | MIHÁLY ZICHY | Forty drawings | GROVE PRESS INC. | NEW YORK || Collation: (1) h.t., (1) t.p./copyright, (1) Preface; (40) leaves of plates, (1) blank; total 44 leaves. The plates are photomechanical offset copies made from the photogravures of 1911 Leipzig private press edition [SVE-0501.2021] of 300 copies, the copy used for reprint was № 277; photogravures were made from the original watercolours and crayon drawings produced by Zichy in 1874-1879; the original album of 51 compositions was sold at Christie’s sale of Gérard Nordmann collection on December 14-15, 2006 in Paris. Ref.: Bibliothèque érotique: Gérard Nordmann; Livres, manuscrits, dessins, photographies du XVIe au XXe siècle / Catalogues de ventes, seconde partie. — Paris: Christie's, 2006; p. 280, № 564 (drawings); № 565 photogravures [LIB-2810.2021]. See a copy of the Leipzig album № 285 in this collection [SVE-0501.2021]. -
Iron tsuba of diamond form with rounded corners with the design of a double gourd on a branch in openwork. Dark brown patina. Ko-Shōami school. Custom kiri-wood box with hakogaki of Sasano Masayuki.
Momoyama Period (1574-1603)
Size: 77.1 x 75.7 x 4.6 mm; weight: 75.3 g.
Provenance: Sasano Masayuki[Translated by Markus Sesko]Hakogaki lid outside: 古正阿弥鐔 Ko-Shōami tsuba Hakogaki lid inside:Hyōtan-sukashi Mumei, Momoyama-ki saku Tetsu, ji-sukashi Koboku-aware no kasaku Heisei ninen Soshinkan Minazuki Openwork design of gourd Unsigned, Momoyama era work Iron, large openwork Masterwork full of classical charm. June of 1990, Soshinkan [pen name of Sasano Masayuki]瓢簞透 無銘 桃山期作 鉄地透
古撲惻之佳作 平成二年 素心鑑 水無月
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Artist (character): Utagawa Kunisada [歌川 国貞] a.k.a. Utagawa Toyokuni III [三代歌川豊国] (Japanese, 1786 – 1865). Artist (landscape): Utagawa Kunihisa II [歌川国久] (Japanese, 1832 – 1981), a.k.a. Katsuda Hisatarō, Ichiunsai, Ritchōrō, Toyonobu, Yōryūsai, Yōsai. Block carver: Matsushima Masakichi (Japanese, fl. c. 1847-65); seal: [松嶋彫政] – Matsushima Hori Masa (Frieze, 2009: 142) Publisher: Iseya Magobei [伊勢屋孫兵衛] (Japanese, fl. c. 1794 – 1868). Signed: By the brush of Toyokuni at the age of 78 [七十八歳豊国筆] (Nanajūhachi-sai Toyokuni hitsu) – in a red toshidama cartouche (left). Signed: Landscape by Kunihisa [景色 国久画] (Keshiki Kunihisa ga) (right). Actor: Nakamura Shikan IV [中村芝翫] (Japanese, 1831 – 1899); other names: Nakamura Fukusuke I, Nakamura Masanosuke I, Nakamura Komasaburō, Nakamura Tamatarō I. Combined date seal and kiwame censor seal: [亥極] – Bunkyū 3 (1863) Tasogare (literally, twilight] [たそがれ] is a character in the novel Rustic Genji and a role in various kabuki plays. Fake Murasaki’s Rustic Genji [偐紫田舎源氏] (Nise Murasaki inaka Genji) is a literary parody written by Ryutei Tanehiko [柳亭種彦] (Japanese, 1783 – 1842). According to Horst Graebner, this must be a mitate print because there was no known performance of this play in 1863. -
Artist: Utagawa Kunisada [歌川 国貞] a.k.a. Utagawa Toyokuni III [三代歌川豊国] (Japanese, 1786 – 1865). Signed: Kochoro Kuisada ga [香蝶楼国貞画] in a red double-gourd cartouche Publisher: Enshūya Matabei [遠州屋又兵衛] (Japanese, fl. c. 1768 – 1881). Series: Fashionable Youths [流行若手揃] (Ryuko Wakate Zoroi). Actor: Bandō Minosuke II [坂東蓑助] (Japanese, 1802 – 1863); other names: Morita Kan'ya XI, Bandô Mitsugorō IV. Date-kiwame seals: Bunsei 13 / Tenpō 1 (1830). One more print from the same series (See Waseda 201-2125); not in this collection: Segawa Kikunojō V [瀬川菊之丞] (Japanese, 1802 – 1832); other names: Segawa Tamon I.
