-
Ogata Gekkō [尾形月耕] (Japanese, 1859 – 1920). An uchiwa-e (fan-print) of advertisement of tobacco of Kagoshima Prefecture, c. 1890 (Meiji Period). Barefoot Tengu* is sitting on a torii (entrance to a Shinto shrine), smoking a cigarette through a mouthpiece. _______ * Tengu [天狗] (heavenly dog) is a type of legendary creature found in Japanese folk religion and are also considered a type of Shinto god (kami) or yōkai (supernatural beings). -
Artist: Utagawa Kunisada [歌川 国貞] a.k.a. Utagawa Toyokuni III [三代 歌川 豊国] (Japanese, 1786 – 1865). An untrimmed fan print titled Fuji Tsukuba aiaigasa, shows the actors Ichikawa Ebizo V [市川海老蔵] and the onnagata actor Iwai Shijaku I [岩井紫若] sharing an umbrella against the wind. Tsukuba, about 50 kilometres from Edo, was an area where both Fuji and Mount Tsukuba could be viewed together. Mount Fuji being the female and Mount Tsukuba the male. An aizuri-e background (common to all the designs in this set). A play on images and words. Actors: Ichikawa Danjūrō VII [市川団十郎] (Japanese, 1791 – 1859); other names: Ichikawa Ebizō V [市川海老蔵], Ichikawa Hakuen II, Ichikawa Shinnosuke I. Iwai Matsunosuke I [岩井松之助] (Japanese, 1804 – 1845); other names: Iwai Hanshirō VII, Iwai Shijaku I [岩井紫若], Iwai Komurasaki I. Publisher: Ibaya Senzaburo [伊場屋仙三郎] (Japanese, fl. c. 1845 – 1847). The publisher’s seal is on the umbrella. Date: circa 1832. Signed: Kōchōrō Kunisada ga in a red double-gourd cartouche. From the series of fan prints:
Two more prints from the series 'Fuji and Tsukuba sharing an umbrella' (Fuji Tsukuba aiaigasa), not in this Collection:
SVJP-0341.2021
Kabuki actors Onoe Kikugorō III and Iwai Kumesaburo II. Year: c. 1832; Publisher: No seal; Signed: Kōchōrō Kunisada ga From Kunisada Project. 
Kabuki actors Bandō Minosuke II and Iwai Shijaku I. Year: c. 1832; Publisher: No seal; Signed: Kōchōrō Kunisada ga From Kunisada Project. -
Two images printed on one sheet of van Gelder wove paper. Owner's stamp 'LvM' on verso.
Dimensions: Paper: 46.7 x 31 cm; top Mon bourgmestre: 11 x 9 cm plate, 9 x 7.5 cm image; Bottom Le modèle: 13.5 x 8.5 cm plate, 10 x 7 cm image.
Catalogue raisonné: Arthur Hubschmid (1977): 341 & 342; Rouir 425:4 & 517:7.
-
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. -
Artist: Utagawa Kunisada [歌川 国貞] a.k.a. Utagawa Toyokuni III [三代歌川豊国] (Japanese, 1786 – 1865). Signed: Ōju Toyokuni ga [応需豊国画] in a toshidama cartouche. Double nanushi censor seals Mera & Murata (1846-50). Publisher: Kojimaya Jūbei [小嶋屋重兵衛] (Japanese, fl. c. 1797 – 1869). A gentleman, probably a kabuki actor Nakamura Utaemon IV [中村歌右衛門] (Nakamura Shikan II, Nakamura Tsurusuke I, Nakamura Tōtarō, Japanese, 1796 – 1852) drinking tea on a veranda under the shining moon. Series Moon, Sun, Stars [月日星] (tsuki-hi-hoshi/boshi), the three sources of light (sankō) [三光]: -
Photographic portrait of poet Joseph Brodsky, head and shoulders, three-quarters to the right, wearing glasses. Pencil-signed on the mat: 1/45 • Mikhail Lemkhin; same inscription on the back of the print, and ink stamp ©Mikhail Lemkhin. Sitter: Joseph Brodsky [Иосиф Александрович Бродский ] (Russian-American-Jewish, 1940 – 1996). Size: mat: 40.5 x 51 cm; window: 24.5 x 35 cm; print: 27.7 x 35.4 cm. -
Portfolio 265 x 225 mm, black half-buckram over diapered cardboard with flaps, black with gilt lettering in frame to front “R. KELLER | MÄRCHEN”, t.p. printed on wave paper, the folder and engravings printed on laid paper, 10 loose plates, 240 x 210 mm sheet, 135 x 110-115 mm plate; re-issue of ten plates of the first edition of 16 plates published in Austria in c. 1910s. Title-page: EROTISCHE | MÄRCHEN | 10 RADIERUNGEN | VON | RUDOLF KELLER | PRIVATDRUCK 1919 || Die Mappe enthält folgende originalradierungen: 1. Aschenbrödel; 2. Dornröschen; 3. Zwerg Nase; 4. Froschkönig; 5. Der gestiefelte Kater; 6. Hänsel und Gretel; 7. Der fliegende Koffer; 8. Schneewittchen mit den 7 Zwergen; 9. Die kleine Seejungfer; 10. Der kleine Daumling Dieses Werk wurde in einer einmaligen Auflage von 250 numerierten Exemplaren hergestellt und darf nur an Gelehrte und Sammler abgegeben werden. Die Platten wurden vernichtet. Nr. 1—50 sind vom Künstler signierte Vorzugsdrucke. Dieses Exemplar erhielt Nr. 0153. Translation: The folder contains the following original etchings: 1. Cinderella; 2. Sleeping Beauty; 3. Dwarf nose; 4. The Frog Prince; 5. Puss in Boots; 6. Hansel and Gretel; 7. The Flying Trunk; 8. Snow White with the Seven Dwarfs; 9. The Little Mermaid; 10. Little Thumbling. This work was produced in a one-time edition of 250 numbered copies and may only be sold to scholars and collectors. The copperplates were destroyed. Nos. 1-50 are special prints signed by the artist. This copy was given number 0153. Seller's description: Erotische Märchen. S.l., Privatdruck, 1919. In-8, en feuilles, sous chemise demi-chagrin vert recouverte de papier japonais. Recueil de 10 eaux-fortes originales de Rudolf Keller. Ces eaux-fortes érotiques dans les teintes brunes s'inspirent des contes de fées traditionnels comme Cendrillon, La Belle au bois dormant, Hansel et Gretel, Blanche-Neige, Le Petit Poucet etc. Tirage à 250 exemplaires. Chemise défraîchie. Jacob Grimm (German; 1785 – 1863) Wilhelm Grimm (German, 1786 – 1859) Charles Perrault (French, 1628 – 1703) Hans Christian Andersen (Danish, 1805 – 1875) -
Hand-coloured woodcut on wove paper, 460 x 363 mm; black ink stamp “5054” to reverse. Four tiers with groups of people dressed in uniform, captioned: Bedeau — Suisse — Chanoines — Évêque — Porte croix — Évêque — Cardinal — Cardinal | Généraux français — Le prince Napoléon — L’Empereur et l’Impératrice — Marraine — Le Prince — Parrain | Meur l’Archevêque | Porte crosse Diacre servant | Préfet — Sénateur — Conseiller de cour — Président — Dames de la cour — Gral Piémontais — Chef arabe | Aide-de-camp de l’Empereur — Chambellan de l’Empereur — Ministre d’état — Ambassadeur de Turque | Ambassadeur d’Angleterre — Ambassadeur d’Autriche — Ambassadeur de Russie — Ambassadeur de Prusse — Gral anglaise — Lord anglais || Bottom left: Imprimerie Lith. de Pellerin, à Épinal; right: Propriété de l’Éditeur. — Déposé. Jean Charles Pellerin (French, 1756 – 1836) – printer/publisher. -
Title: IDYLLE | PRINTANIÈRE || Verso: {Headpiece} | Justification du tirage | {7 lines of text} | Exemplaire № 56 (digits by hand) | HP (monogram by hand) | {tailpiece} || Album of 30 hand-coloured lithographs and frontispiece in a cardboard folder; each sheet mounted in a 32.5 x 25 cm passepartout with 19 x 13 cm window; published in Paris in 1938 by Henri Pasquinelli (attributed). No artist, no publisher name indicated. According to Justification du tirage, the print run of 516 copies on Arches laid tinted paper (vergé), copy A – control artist’s uncoloured, 15 copies B–P reserved for collaborators and friends, copies 1–500 – for bibliophiles. This copy № 56, autographed by the publisher's monogram: "HP". Catalogue Raisonné: J.-P. Dutel, vol 2 (1920–1970), #1726, p. 207-8. Provenance: J.-P. Dutel. -
Artist: Utagawa Kunisada [歌川 国貞] a.k.a. Utagawa Toyokuni III [三代歌川豊国] (Japanese, 1786 – 1865). Publisher: Iseya Sōemon [伊勢屋惣右衛門] (Japanese, c. 1776 – 1862). Signed: Kunisada ga within a double toshidama. Date-kiwame seals: Bunsei 11 (1828). -
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. -
Untrimmed fan print (uchiwa-e), 231 x 300 mm. Title: A geisha eating edamame aboard the boat of the Atari-ya teahouse. Series: Three summer women [九夏三婦久] (Kyūka sanfuku). Artist: Utagawa Kunisada [歌川 国貞] a.k.a. Utagawa Toyokuni III [三代歌川豊国] (Japanese, 1786 – 1865). Artist: Utagawa Kunihisa II [歌川国久] a.k.a. Katsuda Hisatarō, Ichiunsai, Ritchōrō, Toyonobu, Yōryūsai, Yōsai] (Japanese, 1832 – 1981). Block cutter: Yokokawa Horitake [横川彫武] a.k.a. Yokokawa Takejiro [横川竹二郎] (Japanese, fl. 1860s). Publisher: Ibaya Senzaburō [伊場屋仙三郎] (Japanese, fl. C. 1845 – 1847) Combined date seal and kiwame censor seal: 1860 (Ansei 7 / Man'en 1 from 18/III). Signed: Toyokuni ga in toshidama cartouche, and Kunihisa ga. Provenance: The Collection of Paul F. Walter, Christie's, New York, 2017, lot 341; sol together with 5 other fan prints for $25,000. Before: Israel Goldman, Japanese Prints, Catalogue 9, 2003, no. 35. Ref: [LIB-1693.2018] The Collection of Paul Walter. — NY: Christie's, 2017, p. 363. Ref: Israel Goldman, Catalogue 2018, № 52: "Utagawa Kunisada (1786-1865) and Utagawa Kunihisa II (1832-1891) A Geisha Eating Edamame Aboard the Boat of the Atari-ya Teahouse. From the series Kyuka sanfuku (Three Summer Women). 1860. Fan print. 22.7 x 29.6 cm. Provenance: Israel Goldman, Japanese Prints, Catalogue 9, 2003, no. 35. The Collection of Paul F. Walter, Christies, New York, 201, lot 341. Fine impression, colour and condition. The title is a pun on “kyuka sanpuku” meaning the hottest point of the summer. The background view is by Kunisada’s pupil Kunihisa." -
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. -
A woodcut illustration after drawing by Leo von Elliot, published at Illustrirte Zeitung, 17 January 1863. English translation: Student bar "The Hole" in Brussels.
The official name of this bar, located at Rue des Sols in Bussels, was "À la vue de l'Université" (In sight of the University). This was the place where the students of the Université libre de Bruxelles (Free University of Brussels), and especially the members of Société, ou Cercle, des Crocodiles (The Crocodile Society, or Circle), gathered in the 1860s. -
Two prints on one sheet of watermarked laid paper.
Coupe de la ville de Paris prise du septentrion au midy, depuis la porte St Martin jusqu'à l'Observatoire en passant par l'isle du Palais... Coupe de la ville de Paris depuis la porte St Martin jusqu'à l'Observatoire... Plan des rues comprises dans la direction dela coupe... / Le tout dressé par Philippe Buache... ; Desbruslins, sculpsit.
Watermark: "IHS" within circle; countermark of "FIN/ DUPUY/ AUVERGNE 1749".
LOC dates it to 1757. Gallica – to 1742, though the watermark is 1749.
-
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.
-
Artist: Utagawa Kuniyoshi [歌川 國芳] (Japanese, 1798 – 1861). Publisher: Ibaya Senzaburō [伊場屋仙三郎] (Japanese, c. 1815 – 1869). Date-aratame seal: 1827 (Bunsei 10). Inscription: Ohan [おはん], Chōemon [長右衛門] | Dainingyō [大人形] | Yoshida Senshi [吉田千四)] | unclear (work in progress). Sam. L. Leiter describes the play in his Kabuki Encyclopedia (1979) p. 183, and Japanese traditional theatre (2014), p. 252 as "Love Suicide of Ohan and Choemon at the Katsura River" (Katsuragawa Renri no Shigarami) [桂川連理柵], a two-act play by Suga Sensuke [菅専助] (ca. 1728 – 1791) written in 1776 for the puppet theatre jūruri and adopted for Osaka kabuki in 1777. Yoshida Senshi, a.k.a. Yoshida Bunzaburo III was a Japanese puppeteer of a Yoshida lineage. The line was established by Yoshida Bunzaburō I [吉田文三郎] (Japanese, fl. 1717 – 1760), who was one of the greatest in the history of Bunraku [人形浄瑠璃] (ningyō jōruri) and who around 1734 introduced the three-man puppet manipulation system. A portrait of Yoshida Senshi, who died in 1829, can be found in the Kunisada's triptych at Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, ID Number 2016:37.2.).
The design on our fan print looks very much like the one of Toyokuni I at MFA (Houston): OBJECT NUMBER 2006.378. "Seki Sanjuro as Obiya Choemon and Ichikawa Denzo as Ohan of the Shinonoya from the Kabuki Drama Katsuragawa renri no shigarami (Love Suicide of Ohan and Choemon at the Katsura River)", according to MFA-H published by someone Tsuruya in c. 1810 (though the publisher's seal is Suzuki Ihei [鈴木伊兵衛] (seal name Suzui [鈴伊]), Marks 01-028 | 502; the censor's seal is gyōji, date 1811-14).
Interestingly enough, the description provided by Kuniyoshi Project is this "Actors: Onoe Kikugorô III as Shinanoya Ohan (おはん, female) and Ichikawa Ebizô V as Obiya Choemon (長右衛門, male). Play: Go chumon shusu no Obiya (御注文繻子帯屋). Date: 3rd month of 1840. Theater: Kawarasaki. Publisher: Iba-ya Sensaburô".
The play Go chumon shusu no Obiya was indeed staged at Kawarazaki theatre in 1840 (Tenpō 11), 3rd month; Ichikawa Ebizō V was indeed playing Obiya Choemon but Onoe Kikugorō III had the role of Kataoka Kōzaemon, not of Ohan, as can be seen on Kunisada's diptych at MFA (Boston): ACCESSION NUMBER 11.40671a-b.
Actors Ichikawa Ebizô V as Obiya Chôemon (R) and Onoe Kikugorô III as Kataoka Kôzaemon (L)
-
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.
