//Japan
  • Utagawa Kunisada, a.k.a. Toyokuni III .

    Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III). Actor Bandō Takesaburō I as clerk Seijūrō and actor Ichikawa Kodanji IV as Kenkaya Gorōkichi / Fan print, 1852.

    Artist: Utagawa Kunisada [歌川 国貞] a.k.a. Utagawa Toyokuni III [三代歌川豊国] (Japanese, 1786 – 1865). Publisher: Ibaya Senzaburō [伊場屋仙三郎] (Japanese, fl. C. 1845 – 1847). Date seal: [子五] Kaei 5, 5th month (5/1852). Signed: Toyokuni ga [豊国 画] in a red toshidama cartouche. Title: Actor Bandō Takesaburō I as clerk Seijūrō [手代清十郎] (left) and Actor Ichikawa Kodanji IV as Kenkaya Gorōkichi [喧嘩屋五郎吉] (right) in the play Musume ōgi tsui no tatehiki [娘扇一対侠贔屓 (むすめおうぎついのたてひき)] performed at the Nakamura theatre [中村座], in Edo (Tokyo). The playbill for this performance can be found at MFA (Boston) # 11.28042, 11.28285, 11.28286: Actors: Bandō Takesaburō I (初代坂東竹三郎) (Japanese, 1832 – 1877); other names: Shinshi, Shinsui V, Bandō Hikosaburō V [五代目坂東彦三郎], Bandō Tsurunosuke I. Ichikawa Kodanji IV [市川小團次] (Japanese, 1812 – 1866); other names: Ichikawa Yonejūrō I, Ichikawa Yonezō III, Ichikawa Eizō.

    Similar images were then used for the series Seven flourishing plants on lanterns for summer evenings [涼調珍盛の七草] (Suzumi chōchin sakari no nanakusa) published by Ibaya Senzaburō in 1852 (Kaei 5), 6th month.

    Bandō Takesaburō I (carved by Yokokawa Takejirō): https://collections.mfa.org/objects/219360

    Actor Ichikawa Kodanji IV (carved by Nakamura Tōkichi): https://collections.mfa.org/objects/477146.

     
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  • Ko-tosho tsuba with design of buddhist symbols in openwork / Muromachi period (1393-1573).

    A ko-tosho tsuba made of iron, of the round form (丸型, maru-gata), pierced in negative silhouette (文透, mon-sukashi) with the design of Shingon Buddhism symbols of vajra [金剛杵] (kongosho), Sun, Moon and Star [月日星] (tsuki-hi-hoshi) – three sources of light [三光] (sankō). Round rim. No hitsu-ana; the shape of nakago-ana may suggest use on naginata [薙刀. Muromachi period (1393 – 1573). Height: 94.4 mm, Width: 93.4 mm, Centre thickness: 3.1 mm. Another possible explanation for "The element at the 11-o’clock position is in my opinion a kemari ball for the courtly game of the same name (picture attached)" [Markus Sesko].

    Tsukioka Yoshitoshi [月岡 芳年] (Japan, 1839 – 1892): Tokugawa Yoshimune [徳川 吉宗] (1684 – 1751) playing kemari [蹴鞠]

     
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  • Kakiemon (Japanese ceramics 9) [柿右衛門 日本の陶磁 (9) 中央公論社]. — Tokyo: Chūōkōron-sha, 1974.

    Hardcover volume, 35.2 x 27 cm, bound in grey cloth, blind stamped characters to front, brown characters to spine, in a glassine dust jacket, in a double slipcase, the outer case pictorial paper over cardboard, 36 x 28 cm, pp.: [4] [1] 2-104 (plates with photographs of 206 items), [2] 107-138 [4]. Kakiemon [柿右衛門] – book title. 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.
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  • Utagawa Kunisada. Fan print. Women's Elegant Fashions. Beauties Traveling at Yamaokyo. 1859.

    Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III). Princess Sotoori, from the series ‘Chronicles of Elegant Women’ / Fan print, 1859.

    Artist: Utagawa Kunisada [歌川 国貞], a.k.a. Utagawa Toyokuni III [三代 歌川 豊国] (Japanese, 1786 – 1865). Signed: Toyokuni ga [豊国 画] in a red toshidama cartouche Block carver: Yokokawa Takejirō [横川竹二郎] (Japanese, fl. 1845 – 1863), seal: 彫竹 – hori Take. Publisher: Ibaya Senzaburō [伊場屋仙三郎] (Japanese, fl. c. 1845 – 1847). Media: Untrimmed fan print (uchiwa-e), 230 x 295 mm. Combined date seal and kiwame censor seal: Ansei 6 (1859). Title: Princess Sotoori [衣通姫] (Sotoori-hime) – Sotoori-hime was a concubine of Emperor Ingyo (reigned AD 412-53), and one of the Three Gods of Japanese Poetry [和歌三神] (Waka sanjin). Series: Chronicles of Elegant Women [風雅女史傳] (Fūga joshiden). The sign on the torii (Shinto shrine gates) reads: Mountain king shrine [山王宮] – it is the Sannō Shrine at the Nagata Riding Grounds in Edo. A print with these gates is at MFA (Boston) # 21.9853. Other prints from the same series in this collection: SVJP-0343.2021 — Tamagiku: SVJP-0400.2023 — Saiko: Note: Special thanks to Horst Graebner, who helped decipher and understand the meaning.  
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  • Nishigaki tsuba with paulownia motif by Kanshiro III. Edo period, early 18th century.

    Iron tsuba of oval form with design of stylized paulownia (nage-giri) in openwork (sukashi). Leaf veins carved in kebori technique. Rounded rim. Copper sekigane. Unsigned. Attributed to Kanshirō, third generation Nishigaki (1680-1761). Edo period: Early 18th century (Kyoho / Genbun era). Size: Height: 77.8 mm. Width: 71.9 mm. Rim thickness: 5.9 mm. Center thickness: 5.0 mm. Provenance: Sasano Masayuki Collection, № 264: "Nishigaki. Third generation Kanshiro (died in in the eleventh year of Hohreki, 1761 at the age of eighty-two). This oblong shape appears a little amateurish at first, however, it was done intentionally to add flavor to to the design. The neat composition is a feature of the third Kanshiro."  
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  • Iron tsuba with a cormorant fisherman motif. Edo period.

    Mokkō form iron tsuba carved in relief and inlaid with soft metals (copper, gold, silver) with the design of a cormorant fisherman on the face and a boat on the reverse. Unsigned. Dimensions: 77 mm x 69 mm x 3.0 mm (at seppa-dai) Edo period: 18th or 19th century. "Since Nara period, Japanese fishermen in small boats have used cormorants (u) to catch river fish at night, binding the necks of the birds so that the fish are not swallowed. [...] The bird and the work it performs are symbols of selfless devotion to one's master and keen eyesight." - from Merrily Baird. Symbols of Japan. Thematic motifs in art and design. Rizzoli international publications, Inc., 2001; p. 104. See also in this collection TSU-0212 and TSU-0241.  
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  • Katsukawa Shun’ei. The sumo bout between Yotsuguruma and Yamaoroshi

    Katsukawa Shun'ei. The Sumo Bout between Yotsuguruma (right) and Yamaoroshi (left). Date: 1800 or 1805/06. Similar sheet can be found at Edo Tokyo Museum. Size: Vertical Ōban. Sumo wrestler Yotsuguruma Daihachi (1772 - 1809) first appeared in the records of national tournaments in winter of 1794. Then he lost 3 matches and won zero. He first won in the spring tournament of 1797 in a match against maegashira (the fifth-highest rank of sumo wrestlers) named Kougamine. Yamaoroshi Gengo (born 1762) came in at the winter tournament of 1799 . He was much more successful in his career than Yotsuguruma, but he had never won a tournament. It was the time of great Raiden, who won most of them. In the spring tournament of 1800 Yotsuguruma and Yamaoroshi fought against each other for the first time. Yotsuguruma lost. The next time they met on the ring was at the winter tournament of 1805, and again in 1806. Both matches were won by Yamaoroshi. Yamaoroshi retired in 1809; Yotsuguruma died in 1809.  
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  • Iron tsuba with skull and grasses motif. Edo period.

    An iron tsuba of round shape inlaid with shakudō, gold, and silver with a motif of a weather-beaten (nozarashi) skull and grasses growing beside as well as through the eye-pit, and a crescent moon above the scene. Grasses on the reverse. Unsigned. Dimensions: 71.7 x 70.6 x 4.2 mm Reference: Skull, bones and grave markers SOLD  
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  • Heianjō tsuba with mythical creatures and a rabbit. Momoyama period.

    Relatively thick iron tsuba of rounded square form with slightly elevated rim decorated in carving (sukidashi-bori) and yellow brass (shinchū) inlay (suemon-zōgan) with legendary creatures (humans with cow heads) in a pine tree forrest on the face,  and a horned man with a stick hunting a rabbit in the woods on the reverse.  Large hitsu-ana possibly cut off later on. In the beginning of the 20th century such tsuba were usually attributed to Fushimi-Kaga school. This one may be attributed to either Ōnin or to Heianjō. The latter seems most plosible because of the thick web and dull patina. The technique may also be called "shinchū-zōgan". Momoyama or early Edo period. Unsigned. Dimensions: 72.3 x 68.4 x 4.1 mm
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  • Utagawa Toyokuni I. Actors Onoe Matsusuke I as Kudō Saemon Suketsune and Bandō Hikosaburō III as Soga no Gorō Tokimune. Circa 1800.

    Utagawa Toyokuni I (歌川豐國); 1769 – 24 February 1825. Kabuki actor Onoe Matsusuke I (other stage names: Onoe Shôroku I and  Onoe Tokuzô) lived from 1744 (born in Edo, present Tokyo) until the 16th day of the 10th lunar month of 1815 (died in Edo). Here he plays the honourable villain, the powerful minister of state Kudō Saemon Suketsune. Kabuki actor Bandô Hikosaburô III (other stage names: Ichimura Kichigorô I, other names: Hansôan Rakuzen, Bandô Shinsui III, and Rakuzenbô) lived from 1754 (born in Edo, present Tokyo) until 18th day of the 2nd lunar month of 1828. "1813 ~ 1828: Hikosaburô retires and takes the tonsure in a Temple located in Kurodani (Kyôto). He goes back to Edo and lives a hermit life in a small hut called Hansôan and located in Mukôjima." Here he plays Soga no Gorō Tokimune, the younger of two Soga brothers. It was an Edo period custom to produce every New Year's a play in which the Soga brothers figured. The Sogas were actual historical figures who, in 1193, avenged their father's murder by staging a daring night raid on their enemy during a grand hunt. The villain, a powerful minister of state named Kudō Saemon Suketsune, had orchestrated the murder of their father seventeen years earlier. The exact play,  theater, and year featured on the print are not currently known. Publisher: AM-23-016 |391q: Nishimuraya Yohachi: Eiju han 1780s-1809 [AM: Andreas Marks. Publishers of Japanese woodblock prints: A compendium. Hotei Publishing, Leiden-Boston, 2011]. References:
    1. Kabuki Plays on Stage: Brilliance and Bravado, 1697-1766 (Kabuki Plays on Stage, Volume 1). Brandon, James R., Leiter, Samuel L. University of Hawai'I Press, Honolulu, 2002.
    2. Kabuki Encyclopedia. An English-Langauge Adaptation of Kabuki Jiten. Samuel L. Leiter. Greenwood Press, 1979.
    3. https://www.kabuki21.com/
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  • Utagawa Kunisada. Early autumn (Tanabata), from the series ‘Short love songs, Second volume’ / Fan print, 1858.

    Artist: Utagawa Kunisada [歌川 国貞], a.k.a. Utagawa Toyokuni III [三代 歌川 豊国] (Japanese, 1786 – 1865). Signed: Toyokuni ga [豊国 画] in a red toshidama cartouche Block carver: Yokokawa Takejirō [横川竹二郎] (Japanese, fl. 1845 – 1863), seal: 彫竹 – Hori Take. Publisher: Ibaya Senzaburō [伊場屋仙三郎] (Japanese, fl. c. 1845 – 1847). Combined date and kiwame seal: Ansei 5 (II-XII/1858). Size: Untrimmed fan print (uchiwa-e), 300 x 232 mm.

    A young woman adjusting her hairpin on a balcony during the Tanabata festival, as inscribed on the white folding fan: [七夕] (Tanabata).

    Inscription on the blue book (print title): Early autumn [はつ秋や] (hatsu akiya), inscription on the purple book (series title): Short love songs, second volume [端唄の意 二編] (Hauta no kokoro nihen). According to Marks (2010), Hauta no kokoro nihen series of fan prints was published by Ibaya in 1858 (p. 267|P6871).

    The series refers to love songs of a certain type popular in late Edo. They were performed with the accompaniment of a shamisen, “Seven herbs of autumn, the song of the insects is not heard; the bodies of lightning bugs are burnt, and the precious writings of love are getting thinner like the song of the insects as I am waiting for you. So, on an early autumn evening, I spot the glitter of a lightning bug that lingered among the autumn grasses, and while listening to the pine cricket, I am singing with my heart troubled by love". [Tokyo National Museum; translation provided by Elena Varshavsky].

    Tanabata [たなばた] or [七夕] – meaning "Evening of the seventh", also known as the Star Festival [星祭] (Hoshi matsuri) – is a Japanese festival originating from the Chinese Qixi Festival. One popular Tanabata custom is to write one's wishes on a piece of paper and hang that piece of paper on a specially erected bamboo tree, in the hope that the wishes become true.

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  • Ōnin suemon-zogan tsuba of mokko form with design of flowers and wild geese. Late Muromachi period (1514-1573).

    Iron tsuba of quatrefoil form (mokka-gata) adorned with the design of stars, wild geese, blossoms, leaves and tendrils realized in the brass inlay. The inlay technique includes suemon-zōgan and ten-zōgan. A smaller opening (kozuka hitsu-ana) surrounded by a scalloped brass border. The seppa-dai bordered with linear inlay. A few dots of inlay on both sides are missing. Measurements: height 71 mm, width 70 mm, thickness at centre 2.7 cm Time: Late Muromachi (1514 – 1573)  
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  • Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III). Beauty playing the shamisen beneath a mosquito net / Fan print, c. 1832.

    Artist: Utagawa Kunisada [歌川 国貞] a.k.a. Utagawa Toyokuni III [三代歌川豊国] (Japanese, 1786 – 1865). Signed: Kunisada ga [国貞画] in a red double-gourd cartouche Publisher: Unknown (no seal). Date: c. 1832 Izzard: "... red cloth decorated with the characters Yauan, one of Ichikawa Danjūrō VII [市川団十郎] (Japanese, 1791 – 1859) poetry names, and the name of his residence in Fukagawa. The absence of publisher's emblem and censorship seals may indicate that this was a privately issued print, not for public use". Ref.: [LIB-2967.2022] Utagawa Kunisada (1786 – 1865): His world revisited / Catalogue № 17, Exhibition March 17-21, 2021. — NY: Sebastian Izzard, LLC., 2021; p. 112-3, fig. 32). Size: Fan print (aiban uchiwa-e); 235 x 295 mm.
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  • Yoshirō brass inlay tantō tsuba by Koike Naomasa; Momoyama period (1574 – 1603).

    Small iron tsuba for a dagger (tantō), of quatrefoil form (mokkō-gata), with raised rim (mimi), decorated with flat brass inlay (hira-zōgan) to form an abstract design alluding to the mushroom of immortality (reishi). Opening (hitsu-ana) to the left of nakaga-ana probably cut later and fitted with shakudo sekigane. Maker's signature on seppa-dai: Koike Naomasa (小池 直正).

    Momoyama period: End of the 16th - beginning of the 17th century. Dimensions: Height 53.7 mm; Width: 45.5 mm; Thickness at centre: 3.5 mm; at rim: 4.9 mm. Other examples of signed Koike Naomasa work in this collection: TSU-0346. Reference: The closest example in literature is in Compton Collection (II): №11 with the description: “A Koike School tsuba, Edo period (circa 1625), signed Koike Yoshiro. Sheet-brass flush inlay of cloud forms and wire inlay creating the same shape. Koike Yoshiro Naomasa worked from the Keicho to the Genna periods (1596-1623). He arrived in Kyoto from Kaga.” [Japanese Swords and Sword Fittings from the Collection of Dr. Walter Ames Compton (Part II) / Sebastian Izzard, Yoshinori Munemura. — Christie's, New York, October 22, 1992]. See: Yoshirō tsuba.    
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  • Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III). Beauty holding a roll of paper / Fan print, 1822.

    Artist: Utagawa Kunisada [歌川 国貞] a.k.a. Utagawa Toyokuni III [三代歌川豊国] (Japanese, 1786 – 1865). Pubisher (accorfding to Suzuki & Oka): Ibaya Senzaburō [伊場屋仙三郎] (Japanese, 1815 – 1869), Dansendō [伊場仙]. Title: Beauty holding a roll of paper (by seller); A woman of Edo (by Suzuki & Oka) Date seal and aratame censor seal: 1822 (Bunsei 5). Signed: Gototei Kunisada ga [五渡亭国貞画]. Media: Untrimmed fan print (uchiwa-e), 228 x 295 mm. Ref: [LIB-3085.2022] Jūzō Suzuki, Isaburō Oka. “The decadents”. — Tokyo: Kodansha International, 1969, p. 35, plate 30: exactly this print:  
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  • Ōnin ten-zōgan tsuba with design of paper lanterns. Mid Muromachi period.

    Iron tsuba of round form with design of two paper lanterns in openwork (small cut-outs, ko-sukashi ) outlined with brass wire. The plate is decorated with four concentric rows of brass dot inlay (ten-zōgan), with a brass circular wire inside the innermost row of dots (missing on the back). Hitsu-ana of rectangular form is not outlined with brass wire, which let us suppose that it was cut out at a later date. Copper sekigane. Mid Muromachi period (1454-1513). Diameter: 74.0 mm, thickness: 2.6 mm. Tsuba is illustrated at: 新版 日本刀講座 小道具鑑定編 本間 薫山 佐藤 寒山 : Shinhan Nihonto Koza, Volume VI, Kodogu Part 1. Under supervision of Honma Kunzan and Sato Kanzan. 鍔 無名 応仁 鉄地) 丸形 小透 槌目 真鍮据文 点象嵌 丸耳 : Tsuba with no signature, Ōnin style. Base metal iron (jigane), round shape, small perforations (ko-sukashi), hammering finish (tsuchime). Pre-cast brass inlay (shinchu suemon-zōgan); dot inlay (ten-zōgan); round edge (maru-mimi). English translation of the book indicated above Nihon Tō Kōza, Volume VI, Part 1 by Harry Afu Watson, AFU Research Enterprises, Inc., 1993. Tsuba in question illustrated on page 14 and described as follows: " Tsuba mumei Ōnin. Tetsu ji maru gata ko-sukashi tsuchime shitate shinchū suemon ten zogan maru mimi. Brass suemon". My question remains: why such a text is called 'translation' while it looks more like transliteration of romanization?
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  • Utagawa Toyokuni I. The actor Nakamura Utaemon as Ishikawa Goemon. Circa 1810.

    Utagawa Toyokuni I. The actor Nakamura Utaemon as Ishikawa Goemon. Circa 1810.

    Utagawa Toyokuni (歌川豐國); 1769 – 24 February 1825. The actor Nakamura Utaemon as Ishikawa Goemon. Circa 1810. Size/Format: Oban, 9.75 by 14.5 inches
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  • Kanayama tsuba with slanting rays of light motif. Momoyama period, 16th century.

    Iron tsuba of round form with design of slanting rays of light (shakoh) or clock gear (tokei) in openwork (sukashi). Commonly considered a Christian / Jesuit motif. Round-cornered rim. Copper sekigane. Momoyama period: Late 16th century (Tensho/Keicho era). Height: 72.5 mm, Width: 72.2 mm, Rim thickness: 5.5 mm, Center thickness: 5.3 mm. Round-cornered rim. Provenance: Sasano collection. Sasano Masayuki, Japanese Sword Guards Masterpieces from The Sasano Collection, Part I, № 136: "The general belief that this design represents the gear of a clock is erroneous, rather it shows the slanting rays of light from a cross, with the small diamond shapes representing the upright and transverse bars. The Christian influence is obvious..."  
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