-
Sawamura Gennosuke II [沢村源之助] (Suketakaya Takasuke III, Sawamura Chōjūrō V, Sawamura Sōjūrō V, Sawamura Tosshō I, Sawamura Genpei I, Japanese, 1802/7 – 1853) as Ushiwakamaru [牛若丸], a.k.a. Minamoto no Yoshitsune [源 義経]. Ichikawa Danjūrō VII [市川団十郎] (Ichikawa Ebizō V, Ichikawa Hakuen II, Ichikawa Shinnosuke I, Japanese, 1791 – 1859) as Benkei, a.k.a. Saitō Musashibō Benkei [西塔武蔵坊弁慶] (Japanese, 1155 – 1189) Performance: Grand finale dance play [大切所作事] (ōgiri shosagoto) at Soga Festival - A Composite Piece of Musashi「曽我祭武蔵摂物 ごさいれいむさしのひきもの)」 (Gosairei Musashi no hikimono), performed at Kawarazakiza (河原崎座) in 05/1831 (See kabuki plays from 1831). Soga Festival (Soga Matsuri) is an annual theatre event in Edo (Tokyo). Scene: The Fight on Gojo Bridge or Benkei on the Bridge [橋弁慶] (Hashi Benkei). The story relates how Benkei, first a monk, then a mountain ascetic, and then a rogue warrior, a man of Herculean strength, was subdued by the young Onzoshi Ushiwaka Maru (Yoshitsune) on Gojo Bridge. Benkei wandered around Kyoto with the intention of relieving 1000 samurai of their swords. One night, with one more sword to go, he saw Yoshitsune playing the flute and wearing a golden sword at the Gojotenjin Shrine. They agreed to fight on Gojo Bridge in southern Kyoto. However, Yoshitsune was too agile for Benkei and had been educated in the secrets of fighting by the tengu. Following Yoshitsune’s victory, Benkei became Yoshitsune’s retainer. Artist: Utagawa Kunisada [歌川 国貞], a.k.a. Toyokuni III (Japanese, 1786 – 1865). Publisher: Ibaya Senzaburo [伊場屋仙三郎]. Signed: Gototei Kunisada ga [五渡亭国貞画]. Date-aratame seal: Tenpō 2 (1831). Size: Fan print (uchiwa-e). Ref.: (1) Tokyo Metropolitan Library, 請求記号 M339-6/東M339-006. (2) Ritsumeikan University, Art Research Center, Portal Database M339-006(02). -
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 Onoe Baikō IV [四代目尾上菊五郞] Onoe Kikugorō IV [四代目 尾上菊五郎] (Japanese, 1808 – 1860); other names: Onoe Baikō IV, Onoe Eizaburō III, Onoe Kikue, Nakamura Tatsuzō, Nakamura Kachō. One of the series of Kunisada's fan prints in this collection: -
The so-called Yoshirō-tsuba [与四郎鐔] with an iron plate of mokkō form densely decorated with floral arabesque and adorned with eight pierced, chiselled and inlaid brass roundels and signed on both sides 'Koike Yoshirō Izumi no Kami Naomasa'. Four of the roundels are pierced and have geometrical designs representing flowers (e.g. wood sorrel) or snowflakes. Four others are solid and represent family crests; on one side: Mulberry (kaji) – mon of the Matsunaga clan [松永氏], Bamboo Grass (sasa) – mon of the Takenaka clan [竹中氏]), Wild Geese (kari) – mon of the Shibata clan [新発田氏]), and Pine Needles (matsuba); on the other side: Nine Stars (kuyō) – the Hosokawa clan [細川氏], Paulownia (kiri) – the Toyotomi clan [豊臣氏]), Bamboo Leaves (take) – the Minamoto clan [源], and Seven Treasures (shippo) – Izumo Genji clan [出雲源氏]. Hitsu-ana obliterated with a nanako-treated pewter plug. Brass with rainbow patina. Artist: Koike Izumi no Kami Naomasa (Japanese, active late 16th – early 17th century). The Momoyama or early Edo period, end of the 16th to the first half of the 17th century (1574-1650). Size: 81.7 x 78.8 x 4.3 cm. Provenance: Dr. Kazutaro Torigoye. Special thanks to Markus Sesko for providing the translation of hakogaki. Hakokaki lid (outside): 小池与四郎 – Koike Yoshirō Hakokaki lid (inside): 銘曰小池与四郎 – Mei’etsu: Koike Yoshirō – Signed: Koike Yoshirō 和泉守直正 – Izumi no Kami Naomasa – Izumi no Kami Naomasa 木瓜形 鉄地 – Mokkōgata, tetsu-ji – Lobed shape, of iron 真鍮据紋象嵌 – Shinchū suemon-zōgan – with brass suemon-zōgan inlay 縦二寸七分横二寸六分 – Tate ni-sun shichi-bu, yoko ni-sun roku-bu – Height 8.2 cm, width 7.9 cm 右正真也 – Migi shōshin nari – Above described object is authentic 昭和廾九年八月十一日 – Shōwa nijūkyūnen hachigatsu jūichinichi – August 11, 1954 草堂「花押」– Sōdō + kaō – Sōdō [pen name of Torigoye Kazutarō, 鳥越一太郎] + monogram Ref.: (1) Tsuba Geijutsu-Ko by Kazutaro Torigoye, 1960; (2) Tsuba. An aesthetic study. By Kazutaro Torigoye and Robert E. Haynes from the Tsuba Geijutsu-kō of Kazataro Torigoye. Edited and published by Alan L. Harvie for the Nothern California Japanese Sword Club, 1994-1997, p. Yoshirō, 4. See also Yoshirō tsuba. -
Iron tsuba with brown patina in mokkō-gata form with woven design. Size: 72 x 67 x 5 mm. -
Iron tsuba of slightly elongated round form with design of wild geese and drops on pampas grass (masashino) in openwork (sukashi). Rounded rim. Copper sekigane. Owari school. Early Edo period: early 17th century (Kan-ei era). Height: 78.8 mm. Width: 76.3 mm. Rim thickness: 6.1 mm. Center thickness: 6.4 mm. Provenance: Sasano Masayuki Collection, № 169. A description of musashino symbolism can be found at Symbols of Japan by Merrily Baird [Merrily Baird. Symbols of Japan. Thematic motifs in art and design. Rizzoli international publications, Inc., 2001]: Musashino - "the plain of Musashi - a large expanse in the Tokyo area, was celebrated in poetry for the grasses that grew there before the recent era of industrialization... The use of Musashino themes was particularly common in the Momoyama and Edo periods". Pampas grass with dew drops and wild geese in flight collectively provide strong autumnal connotation. -
Kitagawa Utamaro. According to Chris Uhlenberg this is an illustration from the book Ehon koi no Onamaki, 3 vols, published in Kansei 11 (1799). Illustrated in b/w in: Hayashi Yoshikazu: Kitagawa Utamaro, in the series: Edo makura-e shi shusei, published in 1990, reissued 1994. Size: Chuban (25.5 x 18.5 cm), two book pages glued together. -
Iron tsuba of circular form with the knotted geese (kari) flying over the rough waves pierced (sukashi) and carved in low relief (nikubori). Hitsu-ana plugged with soft metal. Hitsu-ana plugged with soft metal (tin or lead).
Signed: Echizen koku jū Myochin Katsuharu saku.
Edo period.Size: Height: 80.7 mm; Width: 81.0 mm; Thickness: 4.5 mm; Weight: 110 g.
Two tsuba of this master can be found at Georg Oeder Collection (Japanische Stichblätter und Schwertzieraten. Sammlung Georg Oeder Düsseldorf. Beschreibendes Verzeichnis von P. Vautier. Herausgegeben von Otto Kümmel.Oesterheld & Co / Verlag / Berlin, Oesterheld, 1915; LIB-1465 in this collection) under №№ 172 and 173, page 21, though no illustrations. SOLD. -
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.
-
Artist: Utagawa Kuniyoshi [歌川 國芳] (Japanese, 1798 – 1861). Publisher: Ibaya Senzaburō [伊場屋仙三郎] (Japanese, c. 1815 – 1869). Published in c. 1845 (no seal). Possibly, from the "Untitled series of beauties reflected in mirrors", see Kunisada Project. However, this print does not have the seal of the censor Tanaka [田中]. -
Kominato in Awa province [Awa Kominato] – one of five fan prints in the series Famous places in the Bōsō peninsula [Bōsō meisho], devoted to the trip undertaken by Hiroshige in 1852 to Bōsō peninsula (present-day Chiba prefecture). “Two fashionably dressed women beside the veranda of a wayside inn gaze out over Uchiura Bay toward the Tanjō Temple on the far shore, as a boat sets out to the sea from the fishing hamlet of Kominato. …Hiroshige’s viewpoint is from the lower slopes of Mount Kiyosumi”. Ref: Sebastian Izzard. Important Japanese Prints 1830–1860 March 14–20, 2020 exhibition [LIB-2398.2020], №. 52. Not in Faulkner's Hiroshige Fan Prints. Artist: Utagawa Hiroshige [歌川 広重] a.k.a. Andō Hiroshige [安藤 広重] (Japanese, 1797 – 1858). Publisher: Tsujiya Yasubei [辻屋安兵衛] Kinkaido [錦魁堂] (Japanese, c. 1842 – 1863) Date seal and double nanushi censor seal: Mera & Watanabe; Kaei 5, 11th month (1852). Signed: Hiroshige ga [広重 画] in a red cartouche. Size: Fan print (Aiban yoko-e uchiwa-e); 225 x 292 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
-
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 Ichiemon [伊勢屋市右衛門] (Japanese, fl. c. 1820s – c. 1860s); seal Tsuji [辻] (Marks 16-029). Media: Untrimmed fan print (uchiwa-e), 225 x 295 mm, plus 10 mm paper strip glued on top (235 mm total height). Title: Plucking Popular Songs in Those Days [時世葉歌の爪弾] (Imayo ha-uta no tsuma-biki). Date seal and aratame seal: Ansei 3 (1856). Seller's Description: Uchiwa-e; picture intended for a summer fan. Here we see a relaxed beauty wearing loose layers of kimono and playing her shamisen instrument. She appears to be in the happy mood of spring, her singing inspired by the cherry blossoms in full bloom that we see outside of her window. She enjoys leisurely plucking with the plectrum of the shamisen and singing “ha-uta” (popular) songs. The title Ha-uta [葉歌] is normally written 端歌, which indicates a certain category of popular songs accompanied by shamisen with short texts that are drawn from daily life. Here however, the title葉歌 uses phonetically the same “ha葉“, referring to the title of the book of a collection of ha-uta songs, Matsu no ha [松の], which was published in five volumes in 1703 by Shûshôken 秀松軒. It is said that this collection of songs was written and sung by the blind (who were often musicians by livelihood). Behind her, lying on the window sill, we see two ha-uta songbooks, one open and one closed. The last half of the title tsuma-biki [爪弾] translates “to pluck with fingers” instead of a plectrum, which is the usual way of playing the shamisen. -
Utagawa Kuniyoshi, 歌川 国芳, January 1, 1797 – April 14, 1861. Memorial portrait (Shini-e) of Nakamura Utaemon IV as a priest. Date: 1852. Reference: Heroes and Ghosts, by Robert Schaap, 1998, p. 165 (image 176). Tokyo digital museum 番号 94202582. Provenance: Herbert Egenolf Collection, Germany. Literature: Suzuki (1992) 317. Trimmed, unsigned. -
Shimizu-Jingo tsuba with a dragon and vajra (on reverse) motif. Unsigned. Possibly, 3rd or 4th master of Shimizu-Jingo family in Higo province. Iron. Low relief carving. Edo period, 1700's. Height: 75.4 mm, Width: 72.2 mm, Thickness at seppa-dai: 4.0 mm -
Ichikawa Ebizō III (Matsumoto Kōshirō II, Ichikawa Danjūrō IV, 1711-1778) probably shown as Shinozuka Gorō in the Shibaraku scene of the play Ōyoroi Ebidō Shinozuka, performed at the Nakamura Theater in the 11th month of 1772 (Meiwa 9). This was the occasion when he celebrated his name change, from Matsumoto Kōshirō II to Ichikawa Ebizō III. The lobster or giant shrimp (ebi) upon the Ichikawa family crest (three concentric squares - three measures of rice) on his garment underscores the fact of the name change (ebizō). -
Iron tsuba of round form pierced (sukashi) and carved (marubori) with a 'noshi' decoration design. Noshi - decoration made of dried abalone (awabi) and bearing an auspicious connotation of good fortune, prosperity, etc. Design was used as a family crest (mon).
Size: 76.3 x 75.9 x 5.5 mm.
Signed: Echizen jū Kinai Saku. Kinai school existed from mid 17th to mid 19th century; it is hard to tell which master (generation from 1 to 6) made this particular piece.
SOLD -
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)
-
Seller's description: "pottery jar presenting a circular, concave base, an apple-form body, a cylindrical neck, and an annular flared rim. Boasting a lustrous burnish, the gorgeous vessel displays three narrow vertical panels in a hue of cream over mottled shades of chocolate brown and mocha on its body and a caramel-coloured neck and rim. The discoid lid features a lovely natural woodgrain surface incised with three decorative concentric circles around a petite knob-like handle. Note the beautiful globules of glaze that decorate the periphery of the base! This type of vessel is known as Seto ware." Size: Dia: 13 cm, H: 14 cm.
