Signed: Ichiyosai Kuniyoshi ga in a red cartouche and sealed with paulownia (kiri mon).
Date seal and double nanushi censor seals: Fuku & Muramatsu, 1853 (Kaei 6, 2nd month).
Size: Uchiwa-e (untrimmed fan print) 296 x 230 mm.
 SVJP-0303.2019 |
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Artist: Utagawa Kuniyoshi [歌川 國芳] (Japanese, 1798 – 1861) Publisher: British Museum provides for the title as Enkyoku-zoroi [艶曲揃] (Set of Voluptuous Melodies) and the publisher as Sanpei. Indeed, 三平 (Sanpei) was a wholesale fan shop at the end of the Edo period. However, Andreas Marks identifies the publisher's seal as 三平 Mihei = Mikawaya Heiroku (1848-56), a member of the Fan Producing Guild (AM 11-016|325a). Block carver: Yokokawa Takejirō, seal: Carver Taki [彫竹] (Hori Take) -
Uncut fan print (uchiwa-e) with the design of kabuki actor Nakamura Utaemon IV who held the name of Nakamura Shikan II from the 11th lunar month of 1825 to the 12th lunar month of 1835, dressed in a checkered kimono, holding a pipe and surrounded by flying fireflies. Character: Nakamura Utaemon IV [中村歌右衛門] (Japanese, 1796 – 1852); other names: Nakamura Shikan II, Nakamura Tsurusuke I, Nakamura Tōtarō. Series title: Catching fireflies in the floating world [浮世蛍狩] (Ukiyo hotarugari). Artist: Utagawa Kunisada [歌川 国貞], a.k.a. Toyokuni III (Japanese, 1786 – 1865). Signed: Kōchōrō Kunisada ga [香蝶楼国貞画] in a red cartouche. Publisher: Ibaya Kyubei [伊場屋 久兵衛] (Japanese, fl. 1804 – 1851); seal: modified Marks 19-009 | 126d. Censor's seal: Kiwame Date seal: Tenpō 2 (1831). Ref: Kunisada.de, N58. A look-alike yearlier Kunisada's design can be found at kunisada.de, ref. # N120-Z0172-410:
Actor Onoe Baikō, artist Kunisada, publisher Ibaya Kyūbei, c. 1820.
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Title: On the Banks of the Kamo River [加茂堤] (Kamo Tsutsumi), sometimes transcribed as Kamo Zutsumi. Series: A Parody of Sugawara [美立菅原] (Mitate Sugawara). The word mitate is usually written as 見立 but here it is 美立, like on another Kunisada's fan print A beauty reading a book on a balcony overlooking a bay: A Parody of Sugawara Stripes (see SVJP-0334.2021 in this collection). On the Banks of the Kamo River is a scene from the play Sugawara's Secrets of Calligraphy [菅原伝授手習鑑] (Sugawara Denju Tenarai Kagami); it was originally written for the puppet theatre (Bunraku) and staged for the first time in the 8th lunar month of 1746 in Ôsaka at the Takemotoza. It was adapted for Kabuki the following month and staged for the first time in Kyôto at the Kitagawa no Shibai, produced by Nakamura Kiyosaburô I. It was also performed for the first time in Edo, at the Ichimuraza, in the 3rd lunar month of 1747. The shape of the cartouche resembles an ox cart viewed from the back which alludes to the scene Fighting for the Carriage (Kuruma biki). Artist: Utagawa Kunisada [歌川 国貞] a.k.a. Utagawa Toyokuni III [三代 歌川 豊国] (Japanese, 1786 – 1865). Signed: Toyokuni [豊国] in a red toshidama cartouche. The character ga [画] is missing (cut out). Publisher’s seal: Ibaya Senzaburō [伊場屋仙三郎] (Japanese, fl. 1815 – 1869). The date seal and censor seals were possibly trimmed out. According to [LIB-3008.2022] Andreas Marks (Tuttle, 2010; p. 267), the series was produced by Ibaya in 1851. Ref.: (1) Samuel L. Leiter. Historical dictionary of Japanese traditional theatre (Historical dictionaries of literature and the arts) / 2nd edition. – Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2014©. (2) Andreas Marks. Japanese woodblock prints: Artists, publishers and masterworks, 1680 – 1900 / Foreword by Stephen Addiss. — Tuttle Publishing, 2010©. Acknowledgements: This masterpiece of ukiyo-e would not be properly described without input from Elena Varshavsky and Horst Graebner. -
Description: Hardcover volume, 35 x 25.1 cm, ochre cloth with gilt lettering and vignette to spine; pp.: [1-6] 7-389 [3 blank], total 196 leaves, 16 illustrations in colour, 1067 in b/w; in a pictorial slipcase 36 x 26 cm. Title-page: The | Japanese | Pillar | Print | Hashira-e | — | Jacob Pins | Foreword by Roger Keyes | {publisher’s device} | Robert G. Sawers Publishing | 5 SOUTH VILLAS | LONDON NW I 9 BS || Edition: Limited edition of 1000 copies, this is copy № 520. Contributors: Jacob Otto Pins (German-Israeli, 1917 – 2005) Roger Keyes (American, 1942 – 2020) -
Iron tsuba of round form pierced with the design of slanting rays of light (Christian motif, Jesuit’s IHS symbol) in positive silhouette (ji-sukashi). This design is often called “tokei” [時計], or “clock gear”. Nakaga-ana fitted with copper sekigane. Rounded rim. Unsigned. Higo school. Early Edo period, mid-17th century (1632-1650).Size: 78.3 x 77.0 x 5.3 mm
For information regarding this type of tsuba see the article 'Kirishitan Ikenie Tsuba by Fred Geyer at Kokusai Tosogu Kai; The 2nd International Convention & Exhibition, October 18-23, 2006, pp. 84-91. School and age attribution thanks to Bruce Kirkpatrick. . 
IHS emblem of the Jesuits
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Hardcover volume, 35 x 27 cm, bound in grey cloth, blind stamped characters to front, brown characters to spine, in a slipcase, the outer case missing, pp.: [4] [1] 2-116 (plates with photographs of 202 items), [2] 119-154 [4]. Ninsei [仁清] and Kenzan [乾山] ceramics produced by Ninsei Nonomura [野々村仁清] (Japanese, c. 1640 – c. 1690) and Ogata Kenzan [尾形 乾山] (Japanese, 1663 – 1743), respectively. 日本の陶磁 – Japanese ceramics, series title. Contributors: Yasunari Kawabata [川端 康成] (Japanese, 1924 – 1972) – author. Tetsuzo Tanikawa [谷川 徹三] (Japanese, 1895 – 1989) – author. Seizo Hayashiya [林屋晴三] (Japanese, 1928 – 2017) – editor. Chūōkōron-sha [中央公論社] – publisher. -
Bando Mitsugoro II as Soga no Taro Sukenobu, the step-father of the Soga brothers, and Osagawa Tsuneyo II as Onio's wife Tsukisayo, in the play 'Omonbi Kuruwa Soga' performed at the Ichimura-za in the 1st month of 1799. Reference: Harvard Art Museums accession number 1933.4.525. Publications: Narazaki Muneshige, Ukiyo-e shuka [Collection of the Masterpieces of Ukiyo-e Prints in Museums] Volume 8: Foggu Bijutsukan [Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University], Neruson Bijutsukan [Nelson Atkins Museum]..., Shogaku-kan (Tokyo, Japan, 1980 [Showa 55]), Color Plate 107; p. 104 (entry p. 191). SOLD -
Late 19th-century (1850-1870) Japanese export fan. This fan has a double leaf painted with a different design on either side. Ivory encrusted with gemstones and other materials. Subject matter such as women wearing kimono is also more typical of export than domestic products (V&A). Summer (birds and flowers) theme on the reverse. -
Iron tsuba of round form (width > height) decorated with a squirrel (on the face) and bamboo (on the reverse) motif in sahari flat inlay (hira-zōgan). Signed: Hazama (間) Size: 75.1mm x 75.9mm, thickness of seppa-dai 5.4mm. Early 18th century, mid Edo. Haynes/Torigoye: "There is another name for Hazama tsuba: the Kameyama school. In the period from Hōei to Kyōhō (1704-36) at Kameyama, in the province of Ise, the Kunitomo family made this style of tsuba" [...] The two artists who are best known for the sahari style of inlaid tsuba are Sadahide and Masahide" [...] The signature Hazama should be considered as that of Masahide". Sahari inlay is the distinctive characteristics of Hazama school. Sahari is an alloy of copper, tin, lead, zinc and silver. Hazama tsuba was carved patterns at first, then poured heated into the carvings on iron ground. Because it is an alloy, sahari shows different colors in each tsuba. According to Merrily Baird [Symbols, p. 163], "squirrels (risu) ... have no symbolic importance". NBTHK certificate №448388. -
Iron tsuba of round form pierced with design of paulownia (kiri) in a circle in positive silhouette (ji-sukashi), details carved in low relief (sukidashi-bori). Hitsu-ana were cut later and then both plugged with lead or pewter. Brown patina. The most unusual characteristic of this tsuba is its 'positiveness': the absolute majority of Kamakura-bori tsuba are of ko-sukashi type, i.e. with small openings, presenting the motif in negative silhouette. Kamakura-bori school. Muromachi period (ca. 1450). Size: Height: 85.1 mm, width: 84.8 mm, thickness at seppa-dai: 3.2 mm, at rim: 2.8 mm. Weight: 79.1 g. A similar tsuba is presented at Japanese Swords and Sword Fittings from the Collection of Dr. Walter Ames Compton. Part I. Christie's, New York, March 31, 1992, page 11, №3: "A Kamakura-bori tsuba. Muromachi period, ca. 1450. The round iron plate is pierced with an openwork design of a paulownia crest (kiri-mon), the surface details of which are carved in low relief. The design is repeated on the reverse. The edge is slightly raised and the rim has some iron bones. 78 mm x 77 mm x 3.5 mm. Hakogaki by Sato Kanzan, dated summer 1973."
Compton's Collection, Part I, p. 11, №3.
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Circular form tsuba made by a mirror-maker, i.e. kagamishi. Cast yamagane plate with design of six persimmons on their peduncles surrounded by leaves. Slightly raised rounded square rim. Hitsu-ana is brutally cut later in time. Copper sekigane. Early Muromachi period (1393-1457) or earlier. The inscription on the box reads: "Kamakura or Muromachi Period. Yamagane Tsuba". Dimensions: 81.9 x 81.6 mm; thickness at seppa-dai 2.8 - 3.0 mm, rim 3.4 mm. -
Iron tsuba of mokko form decorated with brass flat inlay (hira-zōgan) all over on both sits and going over the rounded rim. Black patina, well-forged iron. Hitsu-ana outlined with brass inlay. Former owner's catalogue number in red paint reads 25-17-61. Gary D. Murtha provides detailed account of this type of tsuba in Japanese Sword Guards. Onin-Heianjo-Yoshiro book on pages 118-122. He calls this type of tsuba "Heianjo Mogusa Tsuba": "The term mogusa is commonly used for an inlay design that represents an aquatic weed, similar to a duck weed or sago plant, which is known to quickly invade and overtake bodies of water. [...] Perhaps the visual image has some cross-over meaning for samurai in that, like the plant, a small aggressive samurai force could conquer a larger foe/area." I tried to find any reference to "mogusa" in literature, - to no avail. Neither on the vastness of internet, including Wikipedia... I did find the "duckweed" (one word), but visually it has nothing to do with the pattern on tsuba. "Sago plant" probably stands for 'Sago palm", and there is some very distant reminiscence in the construction of the sago palm leaf and the said design of inlay, but I would not go that far. In the old catalogues, such as Naunton and Hawkshaw collections, this pattern as called "sea weed" and/or "conventional fir". I will stick to these descriptions, tested by the time, and leave the enigmatic "mogusa" alone. Obviously, this type of tsuba has transformed into Yoshirō tsuba, both in Kaga province and Bizen province. Momoyama period (ca. 1660). Dimensions: 74.5 x 73.7 x 4.4 mm. -
Thin iron tsuba of round form pierced with six three-leaf wood sorrels (katabami) in ko-sukashi and inlaid with brass decoration along the rim. Kozuka-hitsu-ana probably cut at a later date.
Late Muromachi or Momoyama period, 16th century. Dimensions: 78.0 x 77.7 x 2.5 mm. -
Netsuke of Kimi no Eguchi on a recumbent elephant. Signed: Toun. Circa 1850. 33.7 x 30.8 x 22.7 mm. The Courtesan Eguchi no kimi as Fugen, Bodhisattva of Universal Wisdom (Eguchi no kimi mitate Fugen Bosatsu). The imagery satirizes the Buddhist bodhisattva Fugen, whose iconographic mount is an elephant, by replacing the deity with a beautifully coiffed modern courtesan. Such a visual pun (mitate) was an artistic trope, popular in the Edo period. Provenance: Charles Ephrussi (1849-1905) acquired in the 1870s; a wedding gift in 1898 to his cousin Ritter Viktor von Ephrussi (1860-1945) and Baroness Emilie (Emmy) Schey von Koromla (1879-1938); retrieved post-war by their daughter Elizabeth de Waal (1899-1991); given by her to her brother Ignaz (Iggie) Ephrussi (1906-1994), Tokyo; bequeathed by him to his great-nephew Edmund de Waal (born 1964), London, author of "The Hare with Amber Eyes: a hidden inheritance". London / New York: Chatto & Windus / Farrar, Straus & Giroux. ISBN 978-0099539551. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Ephrussi. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ephrussi_family. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmund_de_Waal. -
Artist: Utagawa Toyokuni I [歌川豊国] (1769–1825). Publisher: Ibaya Senzaburō [伊場屋 仙三郎] (fl. 1815 – 1869). Signed: Toyokuni ga [豊国 画]. Publisher's seal: Ibaya Sensaburō (Marks 08-067 | 127b). Date-aratame seal: Bunsei 3 (1820). Size: Uncut fan print (uchiwa-e), 224 x 254 mm. Ichikawa Ebijūrō I as Nuregami Chōgorō [濡髪の長五郎], Nakamura Daikichi as Hanaregoma Oseki [放駒のお関], and Ichikawa Danjūrō VII as Hanaregoma Chōkichi [放駒長吉] in a kabuki play Futatsu Chôchô Kuruwa Nikki [双蝶々曲輪日記] (A Diary of Two Butterflies in the Pleasure Quarters (see: LIB-0879.2015 | Brandon, James R., Leiter, Samuel L. Kabuki Plays on Stage: Brilliance and Bravado, 1697-1766 (Volume 1). — Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2002.) The play was performed at Kawarasakiza (Edo) in May of 1820. Actors: Ichikawa Ebijūrō I [市川鰕十郎] (Japanese, 1777 – 1827); other names: Ichikawa Ichizō I [市川市蔵], Ichinokawa Ichizō [市ノ川市蔵]. Nakamura Daikichi I [初代中村大吉](Japanese, 1773 – 1823); other names: Fujikawa Daikichi [藤川大吉]; poetry name Hajō [巴丈]; pen name Naruo Yatarō [藤川大吉]. Ichikawa Danjūrō VII 市川団十郎 (Japanese, 1791 – 1859); other names: Ichikawa Ebizō V, Ichikawa Hakuen II, Ichikawa Shinnosuke I. -
Underglaze cobalt blue and white porcelain plate decorated with a bamboo border, key fret above the blue ring, and a bush of chrysanthemums in the centre. The bottom is decorated with stylized clouds and flowers, a border of lotus petals and signed with a general mark in the centre. Diameter: 29.5 cm; Height: 3.5 cm. -
Title: Ninth lunar month [菊月] (Kikuzuki no zu); Series: Fashionable Twelve Months (Imayo juni-kagetsu). Another version of translation: Modern Beauties of Twelve Months. Artist: Utagawa Toyokuni I [歌川豊国] (1769–1825). Pubisher: Ibaya Senzaburō [伊場屋仙三郎] (Japanese, 1815 – 1869), seal: Dansendō [伊場仙]. Signed: Toyokuni ga and sealed with toshidama. Date-kiwame seal: Ushi (ox), Bunsei 5 (1822). Size: double-sheet uncut fan print ( aiban uchiwa-e), 219 x 295 mm.
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Artist: Utagawa Kunisada [歌川 国貞] a.k.a. Utagawa Toyokuni III [三代歌川豊国] (Japanese, 1786 – 1865). Signed: Ichiyōsai Toyokuni hitsu [一陽斎豊国筆]. Inscriptions: [松竹梅] Shochikubai = pine (matsu, 松), bamboo (take, 竹), and plum (ume, 梅) – an auspicious grouping known as “The Three Friends of Winter“; [三福追] (Sanpuku tsui) – the three delights, or pleasures. Date seal and aratame censor seal: Ansei 2, 1st month (1855). Publisher: Ibaya Senzaburō [伊場屋仙三郎] (Japanese, c. 1815 – 1869). Block carver: Yokokawa Takejirō [横川竹二郎] (Japanese, fl. 1845 – 1863); seal: Hori Take [彫竹]. Kabuki actor Onoe Kikugorō V [五代目尾上菊五郎] (Onoe Baikō V, Ichimura Kakitsu IV, Ichimura Uzaemon XIII, Ichimura Kurōemon, Japanese, 1844 – 1903) giving candies to the memorial portrait of his predecessor, Ichimura Takenojō V [市村竹之丞] (Ichimura Uzaemon XII, Ichimura Kamenosuke, Ichimura Toyomatsu, Japanese, 1812 – 1851); the latter is dressed in a green robe adorned with a crest (mon) of a kōrin-style crane in a tortoiseshell (octagon), the hanging scroll border decorated with bamboo under snow; the collar of Onoe's kimono decorated with plum blossoms, another plum blossom arrangement decorates the screen behind him. Actors identified by Horst Graebner. Two fan prints from this series in Varshavsky Collection:
SVJP-0335.2021
