• Title: A | GENERAL HISTORY | OF | QUADRUPEDS. | – | THE FIGURES ENGRAVED ON WOOD | BY | THOMAS BEWICK. | — | THE FIFTH EDITION | {vignette} | NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE: | PRINTED BY EDWARD WALKER, FOR  T. BEWICK AND S. HODGSON: | SOLD BY THEM, AND ALL BOOKSELLERS. | 1807. Pagination: [2 blanks], [i, ii] – t.p. / blank], [iii, iv] – advertisement, [v] vi-x – index, [1] 2-525 [526 advert. of British Birds] [2 blanks]. Collation: Royal 8vo in fours; π (engraved title), a4 A-3T4 χ3T3. F2 signed 2F, 2E2 unsigned, p. 131 numbered correctly, p. 257 numbered 572. Size: 26 x 17 cm; page 24.5 x 16 cm (royal). Woodcuts: 302 descriptions of quadrupeds, 225 figures and 112 vignettes, tail-pieces, etc. Binding: Full diced brown calf, embossed blind corner fleurons, gilt-tooled border inside and outside, AEG, spine with raised bands, gilt in compartments, lettering; binding restored; armorial bookplate "Thorpe" to front pastedown. Likely to be Thomas Thorpe (1791 – 1851), a prominent bookseller in London: Bedford Street, Covent Garden; started in 1818, went bankrupt on Dec. 31, 1825. Thorpe's family coat of arms: stag standing on a crown and a lion rampant. Catalogue raisonné: S. Roscoe (1953): pp. 23-27. Hugo (1866): pp. 22-24.
  • Pagination: [2] – letterpress title / blank, t.p. contents / to readers, [1] 2-368 [4 index], + 6 b/w (one folding) and 28 coloured plates (total 34). Collation: 4to; letterpress title, [A]1 B-Z4 Aa-Zz4 3A-3B4 3C3. Binding: 25 x 16 cm; gilt-ruled half-calf over marbled boards, flat spine, gilt-ruled compartments, gilt lettering. 5 aquatints by Thomas Rowlandson (British, 1757 – 1827): Table D'Hote; Consulting the Prophet; The Prophet discovering himself and exposing the deception; The Arrival in Paris; Liberality to infirm beggars on leaving Yrvi. References: Martin Hardie (1906), p.310 [LIB-2623.2021]; R. V. Tooley (1935), p. 26 [LIB-2641.2021]; J. R. Abbey (1953), Cat. № 212, p. 167 [LIB-2622.2021].
  • An uncut fan print shows a young woman holding a basket on a landscape background with hills and pines under a rising sun. Haruo Shirane: "Under the luni-solar calendar, the New Year coincided with the beginning of spring, making it the most important observance of the year for the aristocracy. In the Heian period, New Year ceremonies extended from New Year’s Day (Ganjitsu) to the Day of the Rat (Nenohi), which usually fell on the seventh day of the First Month, when courtiers went out to the fields (no), pulled up small pines, and gathered new herbs (wakana) as a prayer for long life. This ritual gradually spread to the provinces and to commoners, eventually resulting in the New Year practice of the gate pine (kadomatsu), in which a pair of small pines was placed at the gate of a house. A popular Heian-period painting topic representing the First Month was “prayers on the Day of the Rat” (Nenohi no asobi), which depicted the auspicious scene of pulling up small pines in a spring field. Both young herbs and gathering young herbs, particularly at Kasuga Field, became major poetic topics for the First Month, appearing in both the spring and celebration (ga) books of the Kokinshū (Collection of Japanese Poems Old and New, ca. 905). By the Kamakura period, the observance of the Day of the Rat had been abandoned at the imperial court, but the custom of gathering and eating young greens continued as the annual ceremony known as the Seven Grasses (Nanakusa). Note: The Heian-period ritual of pulling up the roots of small pines (komatsu ) on the first Day of the Rat derives from the homonyms ne (rat) and ne (root). Pulling up roots was auspicious, since it implied lengthening the year.  The rising sun (hinode) was considered an auspicious sight, particularly at the beginning of the year". [Haruo Shirane, Japan and the Culture of the Four Seasons. Nature, Literature, and the Arts. — Columbia University, NY, 2012]. Title: Gathering of the young herbs on the Day of the Rat [子の日乃若菜] (Nenohi no wakana). Series: Three elegant sources of light [風流三光の内] (fūryū sankō no uchi); meaning the sun, the moon and the stars). 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 yellow toshidama cartouche. Publisher’s seal: Izuzen (Marks: seal 06-029 | U103b) Date and double nanushi censor seals: Mera and Watanabe, Kaei 6 (1853). A similar theme can be found in Kunisadai's triptych published in about 1844 (HARA SHOBO):

    豊国三代「豊歳子日若菜摘ノ図」

  • Title-page: DELLE | NOVELLE ITALIANE | IN PROSA | BIBLIOGRAFIA | DI | BARTOLOMMEO GAMBA | BASSANESE | EDIZIONE SECONDA | CON CORREZIONI ED AGGIUNTE | {publisher’s device} | FIRENZE | TIPOGRAFIA ALL’INSEGNA DI Dante | M.DCCC.XXXV. || Collation: 8vo; π8 1-198; an extra leaf between 18 and 19 (189, pp. 289-10, errata), leaf 11 unsigned, leaf 12 signed 11. Total 161 leaves plus 6 leaves of plates extraneous to collation; Plates (copperplate engravings): (1) Giovanni Boccaccio, (2) Angelo Firezuola (i.e. Agnolo Firenzuola), (3) Lorenzo Magalotti, (4) Gasparo Gozzi, and (5) Michele Colombo by Marco Comirato, and (6) Franco Sacchetti by Francesco Bosa. Pagination: [i-iii] iv-xv [xvi] [1-3] 4-290, index [16], total 322 pages plus 6 plates, unpaginated. Binding: 22.4 x 15 cm, modern brown half-morocco over green sprinkled boards, red label with gilt lettering, publisher’s yellow wrappers preserved. Edition: 2nd; the 1st edition was published in 1833. Contributors: Bartolommeo Gamba (Italian, 1766 – 1841) – author, complier. Marco Comirato (Italian, c. 1800 – 1869) – engraver. Francesco Bosa (Italian, ? – ?) – engraver. Sitters: Giovanni Boccaccio (Italian, 1313 –1375) Franco Sacchetti (Italian, c. 1335 – c. 1400) Agnolo Firenzuola] (Italian, 1493 – 1543) Lorenzo Magalotti (Italian, 1637 – 1712) Gasparo Gozzi (Italian, 1713 – 1786) Michele Colombo (Italian, 1747 – 1838)
  • 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.
  • 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 Ichikawa Danjūrō VIII. Ichikawa Danjūrō VIII [市川団十郎] (Japanese, 1823 – 1854); other names: Ichikawa Ebizō VI, Ichikawa Shinnosuke II. One of the series of Kunisada’s fan prints in this collection:
  • Artist: Utagawa Kunisada [歌川 国貞] a.k.a. Utagawa Toyokuni III [三代歌川豊国] (Japanese, 1786 – 1865). Artist signature: By the brush of the 79-year-old Toyokuni [七十九歳豊國画] (Nanajūkyū-sai Toyokuni ga). Publisher: Ebiya Rinnosuke [海老屋林之助] (Japanese, fl. c. 1832 – 1895); seal: ト/ 海老林 (to, Ebirin). Block carver: Matsushima Masakichi [松島政吉]; seal: carved by Masa [彫政] (Hori Masa). Combined date seal and kiwame censor seal: [子極] 1864 (Bunkyū 4/Genji 1). Media: Untrimmed fan print (uchiwa-e), 223 x 297 mm. Inscription in the cartouches: (R) Wakana-hime [若菜姫], Sawamura Tanosuke III [沢村田之助]; (L) Ashikaga Sanshichirō [足利三七郎], Sawamura Tosshō II [沢村訥升]. Play: Kinoene Soga Daikoku-bashira [甲子曽我大国柱], performed at the Morita theatre [森田座・守田座] (Morita-za) in 1864 (Bunkyū 4/Genji 1), 2nd month (see playbill at MFA-Boston Collection). Playwright: Muraoka Kōji II [村岡幸治]. Actors and Characters: Sawamura Tanosuke III [三代目沢村田之助] (Japanese, 1859 – 1878); other names: Shozan [曙山] (poetry name), Sawamura Yoshijirō I [初代沢村由次郎], here in the role of Princess Wakana [若菜姫] (Wakana-hime) (R). The story about Princess Wakana, Shiranui Monogatari, was written by Ryukatei Tanekazu [柳下亭種員] (Japanese, 1807 – 1858) and published as a 90-volume book of comics between 1849 and 1855. ...The tale revolves around the clash between the Kikuchi and Ōtomo clans. Princess Wakana’s father Ōtomo Sōrin [大友 宗麟] (1530 – 1587) was killed in a battle, and his spirit demanded revenge. To appease her late father's spirit, Princes Wakana acquired the power of the Earth Spider. She often appears in prints with a magic scroll, which helps her fight various enemies. Sawamura Tosshō II [二代目沢村訥升] (Japanese, 1854 – 1879); other names: Kōga [高賀] (poetry name), Sawamura Genpei II [二代目沢村源平], Sawamura Sōjūrō [澤村宗十郎], Suketakaya Takasuke IV [四代目助高屋高助], Sawamura Tosshi VI [六代目澤村訥子] (poetry name), here in the role of Ashikaga Sanshichirō [足利三七郎] (L) with a horse. According to Markus Sesko, the scene comes from the kabuki play Umakiri (馬斬り) by Tatsuoka Mansaku [辰岡万作] (17432 – 1809), which premiered in 1794. It was later assimilated into the Kabuki play Kozotte Mimasu Kuruwa no Datezome [襷廓三升伊達染], which was staged in the 1st lunar month of 1853 at the Nakamura-za. Umakiri is based on a Kyōgen play featured in Hideyoshi’s biography Taikōki [太閤記]. Its plot is that Ashikaga Sanchichirō Yoshitaka [足利三七郎義孝・義高], who is supposed to allude to Nobunaga’s son Oda Sanshichirō Nobutaka [織田三七郎信孝], attacks and kills a horse that is carrying 3,000 ryō (金三千両), money Mashiba Hisayoshi [真柴久吉] (an allusion to Hashiba Hideyoshi [羽柴秀吉]) had sent to be donated to a shrine on Mt. Kōya. The surrounding people try to catch him, but when they hear it is Yoshitaka who killed the horse, they fall to the ground and prostrate, and Yoshitaka leisurely leaves with the money. The plot is very simple, but Yoshitaka’s dashing appearance makes it very pleasing to watch. There are also prints that quote the main protagonist as Ashikaga Sanshichirō Harutaka [足利三七郎春高], and there is another title for the play, Sanzen-Ryō Kogane no Kurairi [三千両黄金蔵入] (Pocketing 3,000 ryō of gold). For reference, see also the BLOG. What these two characters are doing in one play remains a riddle. As Mr Graebner comments: "Most kabuki plays were only performed for one season (two months), and the books were lost. The playwrights have repeatedly used parts of plots from other plays, they have adopted characters, sometimes with the same or similar names. What can be found is the Kabuki Playbill (Tsuji banzuke) with cast and roles; the content is lost".

    MBA-Boston Accession number 11.28192

    Acknowledgements: Special thanks to Horst Graebner of the Kunisada Project and to Markus Sesko of The Metropolitan Museum, NY, for the analysis of the image and their invaluable contribution. For reference, see also:        
  • Coin purse, or porte-monnaie, made of patinated copper alloy, full-grain brown leather outside and purple inside, with a clutch and a hinge, and an oval miniature bust portrait on each side, painted in colour with gold and silver, by an anonymous artist after Franz Xaver Winterhalter, inscribed NAPOLÉON III and L'IMPCE DES FRANÇAIS, respectively, under glass. Dimensions: 97 x 67 x 18 mm. Contributors: Napoleon III [Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte] (French, 1808 – 1873) – character/sitter. Eugénie de Montijo [María Eugenia Ignacia Agustina de Palafox y Kirkpatrick] (Spanish-French, 1826 – 1920) – character/sitter. Franz Xaver Winterhalter (German, 1805 – 1873) – artist.
  • Lithography poster on wove paper, 492 x 614 mm; black ink stamp “5036” to reverse, vertical centerfold. Image in frame; under the frame left: "J. B. Gadola, éditeur. Cours de Brosses 1, à LYON."; right: "Lith LAURANT & Cie r. de Bernardins 34, Paris." Title and text below the image. Jean-Baptiste Gadola (French, 1818 – 1870) – publisher.  
  • 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. Publisher: Iseya Sōemon [伊勢屋惣右衛門] (Japanese, c. 1776 – 1862), seal Marks 21-216. Double nanushi censor’s seals: Hama & Magome (1849-53). Title: Wisteria in Kameido [亀戸乃藤] (Kameido no fuji). An uncut fan print (uchiwa-e), depicting a young woman coming down Taikobashi bridge at Kameido Tenjin Shrine.
  • Richard Parkes Bonington (1802–1828 ). British/French. Evreux: Tour du Gros Horloge (Evreux: Large Clock Tower). Inscription: The tower was built in 1417 when the area was ruled by England. Lithograph. From the Taylor and Nodier set "Normandie", Vol. II, pl. 226. 1824. MET# 22.87.2. Catalogue Raisonné: Curtis 1939, no. 19. MET description: "This view in the French town of Evreux focuses on the clock tower, with vendors and customers in the street below. Bonington produced the print for the multi-volume series directed by Baron Isidore Taylor, Charles Nodier and Alphonse de Cailleux titled "Voyages Pittoresques et Romantiques dans l'Ancienne France" (Picturesque and Romantic Travels through Historic France). This image appears in volume 2, devoted to Normandy."
  • 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.

    Publisher: Kojimaya Jūbei (c. 1797-1869), seal: Hanmoto, Jū [板元, 十] (Marks 19-043 | 264c).

    Double nanushi censor seals: Mera & Watanabe – Kaei 4 (1851).

    Uncut fan print (uchiwa-e), 298 x 228 mm depicting a young woman adjusting her hairpin and holding a portable lantern (andon) on a marine background with the full moon, nearby boats and distant cormorant fishers.
  • Title: BIBLIOGRAPHIE ET ICONOGRAPHIE | DE TOUS LES OUVRAGES | DE | RESTIF DE LA BRETONNE | COMPRENANT | LA DESCRIPTION RAISONNÉE DES ÉDITIONS ORIGINALES | DES RÉIMPRESSIONS | DES CONTREFAÇONS, DES TRADUCTIONS, DES IMITATIONS, ETC. | Y COMPRIS LE DÉTAIL DES ESTAMPES | ET LA NOTICE SUR LA VIE ET LES OUVRAGES DE L'AUTEUR | PAR SON AMI CUBIÈRES PALMÉZEAUX | AVEC DES NOTES HISTORIQUES, CRITIQUES ET LITTÉRAIRES | PAR P. L. JACOB, BIBLIOPHILE | {Publisher’s device} | PARIS | AUGUSTE FONTAINE, LIBRAIRE | 35, 36 ET 37 PASSAGE DES PANORAMAS, ET GALERIE DE LA BOURSE, 1 ET 10 | 1875 || Pagination: ffl, 1 leaf with owner’s engraved ex libris, orig. tan wrapper w/lettering, 1 blank leaf, [2] – h.t. / tirage, 453 of 500, frontis. Portrait, [2] – t.p. / blank, [i] ii-xv [xvi blank], [1] 2-510, [2] – imprint / blank, [1] 2-8 advert., 1 blank leaf, orig. back wrapper, orig. spine, bfl. Note: pp. starting from p. 76 and up to p. 455, between every two leaves of text, there are leaves of grid paper bound in, some with the reader’s handwritten ink remarks. Collation: Prelims., 8vo; a8, 1-328 + advert. Binding: ¾ brown morocco over marbled boards, spine with raised bands and gilt lettering, peacock marbled endpapers. Original wrappers preserved. Size: 23.5 x 14 x 8 cm. Provenance: Juan Hernandez bookplate engraved on a laid and watermarked paper sheet and including a library storage № 2272 The catalogue is produced by Paul Lacroix (French, 1806 – 1884) under the pseudonym of P. L. Jacob; the essay of Restif de La Bretonne biography – by Barbier Michel Cubières de Palmeseaux (French, 1752 – 1820). Frontispice: engraved portrait of Nicolas-Edme Restif de La Bretonne (French, 1734 – 1806) by Eugène Loizelet (French, 1842 – 1882) after Louis Berthet (French, fl. 1775 – 1808) after Louis Binet (French, 1744 – c. 1800).
  • Artist: Utagawa Kunisada [歌川 国貞] a.k.a. Utagawa Toyokuni III [三代歌川豊国] (Japanese, 1786 – 1865). Signed: Gototei Kunisada ga [五渡亭国貞画]. Publisher: Ibaya Kyūbei [伊場屋 久兵衛] (Japanese, 1804 – 1851); seal Marks 08-055|126a. Date-aratame seal: Bunsei 13 / Tenpō 1 (1830). Actor: Nakamura Utaemon IV [中村歌右衛門] (Japanese, 1796 – 1852); other names: Nakamura Shikan II [中村芝翫], Nakamura Tsurusuke I, Nakamura Tōtarō. Play:  Yoshitsune’s Letter at Koshigoe [義経腰越状] (Yoshitsune Koshigoe-jo). Uncut fan print (uchiwa-e, 団 扇 絵) depicting kabuki actor Nakamura Shikan [中村芝翫] as Gotobei [五斗兵衛], dressed in a green kimono with hanging wisteria crest (sagari fuji mon) on the shoulder, posing behind a large saké cask. Nakamura Utaemon IV held the name of Nakamura Shikan II from the 11th lunar month of 1825 to the 1st lunar month of 1836. He was born as Hirano Kichitarō in Edo in 1796. Another fan print with the same subject in this collection [SVJP-0349.2021]; there are also more details about the play and its heroes. Horst Graebner also noted that the performance took place at Nakamura Theatre in Edo on Bunsei 13/03  (03/1830) (see Waseda University Cultural Resources Database # 100-4224):

    Toyokuni II

  • Engraved title: The | Costume | of the | Empire of Russia | {copper horseman vignette} | signed under: Printed for E. Harding at the Crown and Mitre Pall Mall || English title: COSTUME | OF THE | RUSSIAN EMPIRE, | ILLUSTRATED BY UPWARDS OF | SEVENTY RICHLY COLOURED ENGRAVINGS. | DEDICATED BY PERMISSION TO | HER ROYAL HIGHNESS | THE | PRINCESS ELIZABETH. | LONDON: | PRINTED BY T. BENSLEY, BOLT COURT, FLEET STREET; | FOR JOHN STOCKDALE, PICCADILLY. | 1811. || Paper: thick wove paper, the leaf with “Copper Horseman” watermarked J. Whatman 1808; the French title – Edmeads & Co 1809, E2 – E & P 1807, plates are not watermarked [NYPL: An “1803” copy of The Costumes of the Russian Empire has watermarks from 1796 (W Elgar), 1809 (Edmeads & Co), 1811, 1813 (J. Whatman), 1818, and 1829]. Collation: 4to; (1) engraved title by E. Harding (“Copper Horseman” monument of Peter the Great), (2) English title, (3) French title, (4) Dedication to her Royal Highness the Princess Elizabeth by E. Harding (1803), (5) Contents —> π5 a2 B-S4 T2, all second leaves in all quires but C and T signed “2”, 77 leaves total, unpaginated, plus 72 plates (34.5 x 25.5 cm), stipple and line engravings, hand-coloured, by John Dadley after William Alexander. Binding: 36 x 27 cm, straight-grain green morocco, blind-stamped palmette border withing gilt-stamped palmette border to boards, raised bands decorated in gilt, gilt in compartments, two brown morocco labels with gilt lettering, brown endpapers, 2 additional flyleaves at front and back, AEG. Authorship and artistic work are attributed to Alexander and Dadley, but not signed. 1st edition in 1803 was published by William Richard Beckford Miller (British, 1769 – 1844). Catalogue raisonné: Tooley (1906): p. 151. Contributors: William Alexander (British, 1767 – 1816) – artist, author. John Dadley (British, 1767 – 1817) – engraver. Thomas Bensley (British, 1759 – 1835) – printer. John Stockdale (British, 1750 – 1814) – publisher. Edward Harding (British, 1755 – 1840) – publisher of 1803 edition (author of dedication) Princess Elizabeth of the United Kingdom (British, 1770 – 1840) – dedicatee.
  • WESTERN DIVISION OF | PARIS. | Containing the Quartiers | {4 lines in italic} | Published under the Superintendence of the Society for the | Diffusion of Useful Knowledge || Under the frame: Drawn by W. B. Clarke, Archt. […] Published by Baldwin & Cradock, 47 Paternoster Row, April 1st. 1834. Dimensions: Sheet: 40.5 x 34.5 cm; Image: 39 x 28.8 cm. Contributors: William Barnard Clarke (British, 1806 – 1865) – artist. John Shury (fl. c. 1814-1844) – engraver. Baldwin & Cradock (London) – publisher. Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge (SDUK) (British firm, 1826 – 1846).
  • Poem by Ariwara no Narihira Ason: (Actor Ichikawa Danjûrô VIII as) Seigen, from the series Comparisons for Thirty-six Selected Poems (Mitate sanjûrokkasen no uchi)「見立三十六歌撰之内 有原業平朝臣 清玄」 八代目市川団十郎. Poem: Yo no naka ni/ taete sakura no/ nakariseba/ haru no kokoro wa/ nodokekaramashi. Kabuki actor: Ichikawa Danjūrō VIII [八代目 市川 團十郎] (Japanese, 1823 – 1854); other names: Ichikawa Ebizô VI, Ichikawa Shinnosuke II. Artist: Utagawa Kunisada [歌川 国貞] a.k.a. Utagawa Toyokuni III [三代歌川豊国] (Japanese, 1786 – 1865). Block cutter: Yokokawa Horitake [横川彫武] a.k.a. Yokokawa Takejiro [横川竹二郎] (Japanese, fl. 1860s). Publisher: Iseya Kanekichi [伊勢屋兼吉] (Japanese, fl. 1840s – c. 1875) Year: 1852 (Kaei 5), 10th month. Size: Vertical ōban; 36.5 × 25.4 cm. Signed: Toyokuni ga, in toshidama cartouche [豊国画(年玉枠] Censors' seals: Fuku, (Muramatsu), Rat 10. Ref: MFA Accession № 11.36779.43.
  • Artist: Utagawa Sadahide [歌川貞秀] (Japanese, 1807 – 1879) Publisher: Kojimaya Jūbei [小島屋重兵衛] (Japanese, c. 1797 – 1869) No date seal, no censor seal (privately printed?) Media: Fan print (uchiwa-e, 団扇絵), 235 x 297 mm. Kalimeris incisa, or Japanese Aster, is a daisy-like flower that belongs to the family of Asteraceae; it blossoms all summer and attracts butterflies. Peony [牡丹] (botan) – per Merrily Baird it is "the king of flowers", associated with erotic love, and especially with the sexual activities of women.