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Stag antler netsuke of a recumbent ox. Signed: Tomomasa [友政]. Circa 1800. Dimensions: 56.1 x 20.7 x 36.8 mm Just speculation: There was a master in Kyoto named Tomotada who made netsuke with a recumbent ox motif. Our Tomomasa may be an epigone of a later date. Some even attribute the master to Meiji 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 Kuniyoshi [歌川 國芳] (Japanese, 1798 – 1861).Title: Suzume fukube [美人団扇絵] (Sparrow and gourds).
Series: Kacho awase [花鳥合] (Collection of flowers and birds).
Publisher: Aritaya Seiemon [有田屋 清右衛門] (Japanese, fl. c. 1830 – 1862); Seal: Marks 17-011 | 014d.Signed: Ichiyosai Kuniyoshi ga in a red cartouche and sealed with paulownia crest (kiri mon).
Size: Uchiwa-e (untrimmed fan print) 296 x 230 mm.
Double nanushi censor seals: Kinugasa & Watanabe, Kaei 2-3 (1849–50).
Ref.: Kuniyoshi Project. -
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), 232 x 300 mm. Title: Tamagiku [玉菜]. Series: Chronicles of Elegant Women [風雅女史傳] (Fūga joshiden). Combined date seal and kiwame censor seal: Ansei 6 (1859). Other prints from the same series in this collection [SVJP-0216.2016] — Princess Sotoori:
SVJP-0400.2023 — Saiko:
Note by Elena Varshavsky:
Tamagiku [玉菜] (Japanese, 1702 – 1726) – Precious Chrysanthemum (translated also as Jade Chrysanthemum; one can say also Gem Chrysanthemum). She was a courtesan famous for her beauty, kind heart, and countless artistic accomplishments. She died young and was deeply grieved by the establishment of Nakamanji-ya (中万字屋) for which she worked, and beyond. Her memory was celebrated during the Bon festival of the commemoration of the dead, and lanterns were hung at the gallery of that establishment and other neighbouring ones to commemorate her and appease her soul. These lanterns are seen behind her. Kabuki plays were continuously dedicated to her, she figured in Edo period literature and was often portrayed on ukiyo-e prints. In many cases, she was shown with the lanterns associated with her. Those lanterns were called “Tamagiku Lanterns”.
Other depictions of Tamagiku:
Tamagiku (Ancient and modern women's biography) by Kunisada, 1859.
Courtesan Tamagiku by Kunichika.
Tamagiku of the Nakamanjiya, Inaki Shinnojō, and Nakamanjiya Yahei (looking through the window) by Kunisada.
Nakamanji-Ya Tamagiku by Kunisada
Sources: darumapedia; kajiipeta; kabuki21; crosseyedgallery.
Nakamanji-Ya Tamagiku by Kunisada, 1857
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Title: Gotenyama [御殿山] – one of the most popular cherry blossom viewing spots; it is a hill at Shinagawa [品川], the second station on the Tōkaidō road [東海道], located on the shores of Edo Bay [江戸湾]. Series: A Collection of Mountains [山つくし] (Yama tsukushi) Artist: Utagawa Kunisada [歌川 国貞] a.k.a. Utagawa Toyokuni III [三代歌川豊国] (Japanese, 1786 – 12 January 1865). Block carver: Yokokawa Takejirō, seal: [彫竹] – Hori Take. Publisher: Yama-Ta; seal: [板元, 太] – Hanmoto, Ta; Marks 19-044 | U421b: An unknown publisher in Edo, fl. c. 1815-61. Combined date seal and kiwame censor seal: Ansei 6 (1851). Signed: Toyokuni ga [豊国 画] in a red toshidama cartouche. Size: Fan print (uchiwa-e) 227 x 287 mm. -
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 Nakamura Shikan IV [中村芝翫] (Nakamura Fukusuke I [中村福助], Nakamura Masanosuke I, Nakamura Komasaburō, Nakamura Tamatarō I, Japanese, 1831 – 1899) arranging a branch of blossoming plum to the memorial portrait of his predecessor Nakamura Utaemon IV [中村歌右衛門] (Nakamura Shikan II, Nakamura Tsurusuke I, Nakamura Tōtarō, Japanese, 1796 – 1852); the latter is dressed in a black robe adorned with a mokkō-crest (mon) of white plum blossom, the hanging scroll border decorated with arabesque and plum blossoms. Actors identified by Horst Graebner. Two fan prints from this series in Varshavsky Collection:
SVJP-0336.2021
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Title: Modori Kago [戻駕] (Returning palanquin). The dance-drama Modori Kago Iro ni Aikata [戻駕色相肩] premiered in the 11th lunar month of 1788 at the Nakamuraza [中村座], within Sakurada Jisuke I's kaomise [顔見世] (faceshowing) program Tôzumô Hana no Edogata [唐相撲花江戸方]", which celebrated the homecoming to Edo, after two years' absence, of Nakamura Nakazō I, and was intended to show off his particular talents in the role of Jirosaku (in reality Ishikawa Goemon [石川 五右衛門]) [kabuki21]. The symbol on a green book cover is the informal crest of tokiwazu-bushi [常磐津節] shaped like a water chestnut (Eleocharis dulcis) lozenge. Artist signature 国盛画 (Kunimori ga) with red toshidama. According to Samuel L. Leiter’s Kabuki Encyclopedia (1979), p. 243: The palanquin bearers Nanpa no Jirosaku and Azuma no Yōshirō, who are bearing a palanquin with a courtesan's young handmaiden in it, stop to rest at Kyoto's Murasakino, and each dances his regional dance. Then they call the girl, who does a dance showing the visitors to the famous pleasure quarters, Yoshiwara and Shimabara. The two men recognize each other as Ishikawa Goemon and Masashiba Hisayoshi, sworn enemies, and engage in a fight. This number is the only remaining section of an annual "faceshowing” (kaomize) work with a plot based on the medieval chronicle called the Toikōki. The full-length piece was called Kara Sumō Hanaeda no Kata. It is one of the most famous tokiwazu pieces and preserves the old-style Kabuki flavour. Nakamura Nakazō I played Jirosaku and Matsumoto Kōshirō IV was Yoshiro in the first production. The handmaiden was Matsumoto Komesaburō (probably Matsumoto Komasaburō I, an unknown actor [SV]). According to Egenolf Gallery: This work was first performed in 1788 at the Edo Nakamura-za as the season’s first performance and featured Nakamura Nakazō, who returned to Edo after three years in Osaka. It was a dance with tokiwazu chanting and was designed for him to play the lead role. In the piece, two palanquin carriers, one from Osaka, another from Edo, and a passenger – a kamuro, (a young geisha-in-training) exchange stories about the pleasure quarters of Shimabara and Yoshiwara. The text of the chanting book is open next to her, carrying the title “Collection of Practicing” [稽古尽くし], on which the green bundle cover carries the crest of Tokiwazu School, matsu-kawa-bishi, diamond variety of pine bark and the artist’s signature. Tokiwazu is a type of jōruri, narrative music, and accompanies dancing on the kabuki stage. Ref.: Christie's 27 Mar 2006. Publisher: Maruya Jinpachi, seal Marujin (Marks: 12-029 | 294e) Single nanushi censor seal: Mura (Murata Sahei, 1842-46). Provenance: Circular seal of the collector Huguette Bérès to verso. Contributors: Utagawa Kunimori [歌川国盛] (Japanese, fl. c. 1818 – 1943) – artist. Maruya Jinpachi [丸屋甚八] (Japanese, fl. 1770 – 1842) – publisher. Other mentioned: Nakamura Nakazō I [中村仲蔵] (Japanese, 1736 – 1790); other names: Nakayama Kojūrō VI, Nakamura Ichijūrō, Nakayama Manzō – actor. Matsumoto Kōshirō IV [松本幸四郎] (Japanese, 1737 – 1802); other names: Omegawa Kyōjūrō; Ichikawa Komazō II, Ichikawa Somegorô I, Ichikawa Takejūrō ; Segawa Kinji; Segawa Kingo – actor. Sakurada Jisuke I [桜田治助] (Japanese, 1734 – 1806) – dramatist. -
Iron tsuba of round form decorated with inlay of four concentric rows of brass dots or nail heads (ten-zōgan) and a circular brass wire inlay inside the innermost row of dots. Copper sekigane. Muromachi period, 15th or 16th century. Unsigned. Ōnin school. Size: 87.9 x 87.8 x 2.2 mm. Ōnin school got its name from the Ōnin War (応仁の乱 - Ōnin no Ran) - a civil war that lasted 10 years (1467–1477) during the Muromachi period in Japan. -
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 (birds and shippomon motif). Painting by ukiyo-e artist and printmaker Katsushika Isai (1821–1880) represents a riverside landscape with figures; birds and flowers on the reverse. Signed: Isai ga (為斎画) - "Painted by Isai". -
Iron tsuba of round form with design of hatchet executed in openwork (sukashi) and three fan panels motif on both sides carved in low relief (sukidashi-bori). Designs on the fan panels - face: bellflower, plum blossom in mist, grass leaves; - back: clouds, grass, and half plum blossom in mist. Copper sekigane. Koga-hitsu-ana probably cut out on a later date. Kamakura or kamakura-bori school. Edo period. Height: 83.8 mm, Width: 82.2 mm, Thickness at seppa-dai: 3.2 mm. NBTHK certificate № 4005500: Hozon (worthy of preservation). -
Iron tsuba of round form with design of lattice (kōshi-mon, 格子文) cut in openwork (sukashi), with low relief shallow linear carving along the bars. Well forged plate with brown-ish hue. To the right of nakago-ana there is a clear inscription of the character Shō (正), which is explained by Markus Sesko is follows: "The Shinsa obviously recognized more from the signature when having the tsuba in hand, i.e. they were confident to say it is signed "Shōami" but the rest is illegible (ika-fumei, 以下不明). That is, if they were just able to read the first character SHŌ (正) and saw that there were two more, most likely A (阿) and MI (弥), they would have put those character in boxes on the paper. Boxes around characters namely means that the character is not 100% legible but it can be assumed what it is." Momoyama or early Edo period. Dimensions: 85.9 mm diameter, 3.6 mm thickness at seppa-dai. Weight: 79 g. NBTHK certificate № 425069 with attestation: Hozon - "Worthy of preservation". A similar tsuba is presented at Japanese Sword Fittings from the R. B. Caldwell Collection. Sale LN4188 "HIGO". Sotheby's, 30th March 1994, №15. The description says: "A rare early Kamakura-bori tsuba. Nambokucho period (late 14th century). Of circular form, the dark plate carved and pierced with a gate design, the struts with double engraved lines. Unsigned. 8.5 cm." The lot was sold for 1,840 GBP.We have two possible explanations of the discrepancy between Sotheby's and Shinsa/Sesko attribution: 1) either Sotheby's or Shinsa/Sesko were wrong in their attribution or 2) these are two different pieces, one - Kamakura-bori from the 14th century and another - Shōami from 16th/17th century. Anyway, I would consider my piece as a Shōami tsuba of Momoyama - early Edo period, just for the sake of modesty.
Caldwell Collection. Sotheby's 1994, №15.
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Tsuba of chrysanthemoid form (kikka-gata) with yamagane core and woven copper wire pattern. Copper sekigane. Shingen school. Height: 70.2 mm; Width 67.2 mm; Thickness at seppa-dai: 3.4-3.6 mm, overall 7.3 mm. Weight 82.7 g Inscription on the wooden box reads: "Muromachi period Mumei Zōgan Shingen Tsuba" Muromachi period, 16th century. Age attribution is based on the fact that the core is made of yamagane; later copies of Edo period are usually made of iron. This small and light tsuba was likely mounted on a combat sword, while larger and much heavier woven wire Shingen tsuba of Edo period were of purely decorative purpose. http://varshavskycollection.com/shingen-tsuba/ -
Iron tsuba of otafuku-gata form decorated on the face with death and autumn motifs: autumnal grasses and flowers in yellow brass and shakudō, skull, limb bone and sternum inlaid in shakudō. On the reverse the plate is inlaid in red copper with a chrysanthemum and maple leaves floating in stylized water streams. "Plants floating atop water form common motifs, as occurs with chrysanthemums, maple leaves, and cherry blossoms, in particular." [Merrily Baird]. Such plants may be used as a family crest (mon), or may be just a reminder of a floating nature of life. Momoyama period, late 15th century. Dimensions: 75.3 x 69.9 x 4.3 mm. -
Tsuba of oval form decorated with clematis six-petal flowers, tendrils, and leaves in cast brass with details carved in kebori, inlaid on iron plate carved in low relief (kebori and sukidashi-bori). Hitsu-ana plugged with shakudō. Copper sekigane.
Heianjō (or Ōnin) school. Unsigned. Mid Muromachi period (1454-1513). Dimensions: 87.2 x 84.3 x 4.3 mm. Tsuba is illustrated and described in Gary D. Murtha's "Onin-Heianjo-Yoshiro" book on pages 38-39. Mid-Muromachi is the age attribution by Gary. “A picture book of Japanese sword guards. Victoria & Albert Museum“, published in 1927 presents us with a somewhat similar tsuba: "Floral ornament. Iron, with brass incrustation". V&A attributes the tsuba to Ōnin style, 16th century.
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Santō Kyōden (山東 京伝, September 13, 1761 Edo – October 27, 1816) was a Japanese poet, writer and artist in the Edo period. He studied ukiyo-e under master Kitao Shigemasa (北尾 重政) [see SVJP-0006], and began illustrating kibyōshi under the pseudonym of Kitao Masanobu (北尾 政寅).Signed: Masunobu ga.
"Parody of the Nō Play Chōryō" (elsewhere) or "Parody of Huáng Shigōng and Zhāng Liáng" (David Waterhouse, The Harunobu Decade, Hotei Publishing, 2013, v. 2, №651). "The story [...] is about an encounter between the Chinese government minister Chôryô (Zhāng Liáng) and the legendary elder Kôsekikô (Huáng Shigōng) in the 3rd century BC. While riding a mule across a bridge, Kôsekikô dropped his sandal. Chôryô returned it to him. As a reward, Kôsekikô gave Chôryô a book of military strategy. Later, Chôryô helped to establish the Han Dynasty (207 BC-AD 220)." [The Walters Art Museum]References:
Waterhouse, The Harunobu Decade (2013), #651; Ukiyo-e shûka supp. 2 (1982), pl. 625; Pins, The Japanese Pillar Print (1982), #274/p.145; J. Kurth, Die Geschichte..., vol. II, Leipzig, 1928; S. Kikuchi, Ukiyo-e, 1966.
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Yamagane (bronze) tsuba (kagami-shi, or mirror-maker) with the design of a star (round opening), tomoe (comma), and suhama in openwork. Surface cast and chiselled with the design of foliage, vines, blossoms, pine needles, and fruits on both sides.
The end of Early Muromachi period (1393-1453), circa 1450. Size: 83.7 x 84.1 x 3.6 (center), 4.1 (rim) mm; weight: 135.5 g. KANTEI-SHO (鑑定書) - APPRAISAL [translated by Markus Sesko]. No 463341 Tomoe-suhama-sukashi hana-karakusa no zu tsuba (巴洲浜透花唐草図鐔) ‒ Tsuba with stylized comma and bay inlet openwork and a flower and arabesque décor Unsigned: Kagami-shi (鏡師) Round shape, yamagane, hammer blow finish, cast, negative openwork design, round rim. According to the result of the shinsa committee of our society, we judge this work as authentic and rank it as Hozon Tōsōgu. July 1, 2011 [Foundation] Nihon Bijutsu Tōken Hozon Kyōkai, NBTHK (日本美術刀劍保存協會) -
Artist: Utagawa Kuniyoshi [歌川 國芳] (Japanese, 1798 – 1861). Publisher: Ibaya Senzaburō [伊場屋仙三郎] (Japanese, c. 1815 – 1869), no publisher's seal on this print. Another title of this image provided by Sebastian Izzard is Acrobats becoming animals. The series Brother Pictures for Comparison [絵鏡台合かゝ身] (e-kyôdai awase kagami) can be found at Kuniyoshi Project: "This series consists of pairs of fan prints, with one print of each pair being a silhouette of the other. The series is not listed in Kuniyoshi by Basil William Robinson (Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1961)". The series is attributed to c. 1840. Signed: Ichiyosai Kuniyoshi ga. Size: Size: Uchiwa-e (untrimmed fan print) 227 x 299 mm. -
The thin iron plate of round form and black colour carved in sukidashi-bori with the design of rocks, waves, bridge, mountain pavilion and 5-storey pagoda under the moon, on both sides, alluding to Todai-ji temple in Nara. Slightly rounded rectangular hitsu-ana probably pierced later. Very narrow raised rim as usual in katsushi tsuba. In a modern wooden box.
Late Muromachi period, 16th century. Dimensions: 81.1 x 79.5 x 3. mm (seppa-dai), 2.2 mm (base plate), 4.4. (rim).Reference: “Art of the Samurai” on page 232, №140: ”Kamakura tsuba with Sangatsu-do tower and bridge. Muromachi period, 16th century. 83 mm x 80 mm. Unsigned. Tokyo National Museum. The mountain pavilion and bridge carved in sunken relief on the iron tsuba – both part of Tōdai-ji, a temple in Nara – are detailed in fine kebori (line) engraving. As a result of the chiselling used to create the relief, the ground of the piece is relatively thin”. Also page 41 in Tsuba Kanshoki. Kazutaro Torogoye, 1975 [LIB-1480.2018].
This tsuba is very much similar to TSU-0384. -
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 yellow toshidama cartouche. Publisher: Unknown, seal [久] Kyū (Japanese, fl. c. 1851 – 1861); (Marks 07-023 | U176a, possibly Sagamia Kyūzō). Date seal and double nanushi censor seals: Fuku & Muramatsu, Kaei 6, 2nd month (2/1853). Inscription in a red cartouche: Purple of Edo // Purple of the Bay Capital [江都むらさき] (Edo Murasaki), alluding to Murasaki Shikibu [紫 式部] (Japanese, c. 973/8 – c. 1014/31), the author of Genji Monogatari [源氏物語] (The Tale of Genji), a Heian period novel which was the source of a parody Nise Murasaki Inaka Genji [偐紫田舎源氏] (Fake Murasaki’s Rustic Genji) by Ryutei Tanehiko [柳亭種彦] (Japanese, 1783 – 1842). According to Horst Graebner: The actor is most probably Iwai Kumesaburō III. Iwai Hanshirō VIII [岩井半四郎] (Japanese, 1829 – 1882); other names: Iwai Shijaku II, Iwai Kumesaburō III [岩井粂三郎], Iwai Hisajirō II. One of the series of Kunisada's fan prints in this collection:
