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Seventeen drypoint prints in purple plus one original ink sketch by Marcel Vertés (French, 1895 – 1961) – illustrations to the book by Pierre Louÿs Trois filles de leur mère, in a paper folder. Front : DIX-SEPT POINTES SÈCHES | D'UN ARTISTE INCONNU | POUR | TROIS FILLES | DE | LEUR MÈRE | {space} | AUX DÉPENS D'UN AMATEUR | NON MIS DANS LE COMMERCE || Pencil manuscript Vertés under “ARTISTE”, autograph vignette above “AMATEUR”, erased dedication inscription above “DÉPENS” À L’AMI [erased] X. Back: JUSTIFICATION DU TIRAGE | 17 EXEMPLAIRES SUR VÉLIN D’ARCHES CONTENANT | UNE SUITE DES DIX-SEPT POINTES SÈCHES EN | NOIR : UNE SUITE EN COULEURS COLORIÉE PAR | L’ARTISTE ; UN DESSIN ORIGINAL ET SA PLANCHE | DE CUIVRE ; DIX-SEPT CROQUIS ORIGINAUX | MARQUÉS A à Q. | 50 EXEMPLAIRES SUR VÉLIN D’ARCHES CONTE- | NANT UNE SUITE DES DIX-SEPT POINTES | SÈCHES ET TROIS CROQUIS ORIGINAUX | NUMÉROTÉS DE 1 à 50. | {space} | EXEMPLAIRE № {by hand} H. C. || Size : folder 28 x 17.5 cm; sketch 26.6 x 17.6 cm; prints 27.5 x 19 cm. Printed on wove paper with MBM watermark (Arches MBM Paper). Bookplate pasted to the makeshift extra folder with title: “EX-LIBRIS | Jacques | Crepineau”. Provenance: Jacques Crepineau (French, 1932 – 2017). Description by seller: [CURIOSA - VERTÈS (Marcel)]. Dix-sept pointes sèches d'un artiste inconnu pour Trois filles de leur mère. S.l. : Aux dépens d'un amateur, [1927]. — In-8, en feuilles. Dutel 2517*. Rare suite de 17 pointes-sèches libres réalisées par Marcel VERTÈS, probablement publiée par Marcel Cotinaud. Elle était destinée à accompagner l'édition originale de Trois filles de leur mère de Pierre Louÿs publiée un an plus tôt. Tirage à 67 exemplaires sur vélin d'Arches. Les épreuves sont tirées en violet. Exemplaire sans le feuillet de titre, ni celui de la justification. Il comprend un croquis original de l'artiste, non signé, ayant servi d'étude pour l'une des planches. Selon les tirages, chaque exemplaire devrait comprendre 17 croquis pour les 17 premiers, ou 3 pour les 50 autres, non n'en avons ici qu'un seul. Envoi de Vertès sur la couverture, accompagné d'un dessin original. Le nom du destinataire a été effacé. Manque la chemise et l'étui. Description by DUTEL v.3, p. 389, № 2517: In-4 (28 x 19) de 2 ff., 17 pointes sèches, étui, chemise. … publiée en 1927 probablement par Marcel Cotinaud (SV : publisher of Vertés was Paul Cotinaud)… Les planches sont tirées en violet (SV : like this one). Tirage : 17 ex. …avec une suite coloriée par l’artiste, un dessin, un cuivre et 17 croquis. 50 ex. … avec 3 croquis. Other names: Marcel Vertès, Marcel Vertes, Marcell Vértes -
The right sheet of (optional) triptych: Geisha (Geiko) and kabuki actor Iwai Hanshirō V as Katanaya Hanshichi from Three pleasures of present-day Osaka (Tōsei Naniwa no sankō)「当世浪花の三興 芸子」 「刀屋半七」五代目岩井半四郎. Publisher: Iseya Rihei [伊勢屋利兵衛] (Japanese, fl. 1790s – c. 1879) Year: 1821 (Bunsei 4). Size: Vertical ōban; 36.5 x 25.2 cm. Signed: 於浮瀬亭国貞画 – Drawn by Kunisada in Ukabuse (Ukabuse ni oite Kunisada ga). Ukabuse is the name of a famous restaurant in Osaka, this signature can be found only on a three print bijin series [Kunisada Project]. Censor's seal: kiwame 改印：極 Actor Iwai Hanshirō V [岩井半四郎] (Japanese, 1776 – 1847); other names: Iwai Tojaku, Iwai Kumesaburō I. Character: Katanaya Hanshichi [刀屋半七] Ref: MFA ACCESSION NUMBER 11.21938; LIB-2967.2022 Izzard. Full series (triptych) Three Pleasures of Present-day Osaka (Tōsei Naniwa no sankō):
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Woodblock print album of thirteen prints, ōban, nishiki-e. Artist: Chōkyōsai Eiri [鳥橋斎 栄里] (Japanese, fl. c. 1789 ~ 1801 ). Models of calligraphy (Fumi no kiyogaki), New Year 1801. This title is taken from Chris Uhlenbeck's Japanese Erotic Fantasies Sexual Imagery of the Edo Period. — Hotei Publishing, 2005, ISBN 90-74822-66-5):. A detailed description of the album can be found at The Complete Ukiyo-e Shunga №9 Eiri, 1996, ISBN 4-309-91019. Most of the edition is in Japanese, though Richard Lane writes a section in English: Eiri: Love-letters, Love Consummated: Fumi-no-kiyogaki. The article starts with the following statement: "Why all the fuss about Sharaku? Because he is so "mysterious"? No, not at all: because he is such a good artist. But Sharaku is not the only great yet enigmatic ukiyo-e artist and I propose to resurrect here one of his important contemporaries who has been all too long neglected: Chōkyōsai Eiri. As with many of the notable ukiyo-e masters, nothing is known of Eiri's biography. All we can say is what we learn from his extant prints and paintings: that he flourished during the second half of the Kansei Period [1789-1801]; and that he was a direct pupil of the great Eishi - who, being of eminent samurai stock, may well have attracted pupils of similar background." Another citation from Japanese Erotic Fantasies: "This album is one of the boldest sets of ōban-size shunga known, The first edition contains thirteen instead of the customary twelve designs". Here I present all thirteen prints, though the edition I bought in Kyoto in 2014 contained only twelve. The thirteenth print was purchased later in the United States (sheet №12).
№1: "...one of the most exotic scenes in all shunga. A Dutch kapitan is discovered coupling with a lovely Japanese courtesan, beside a large window opening upon a garden...".
№2: "...a fair young harlot is seen masturbating with a grinding-pestle - a man watches intently from under bedding." [I have two specimens of this design; the one from album is more soiled but less faded].
№3: "...the artist has effectively contrasted the lovers by depicting the man's face as seen through the geisha's gauze skirt. [...] we are impressed more by strikingly elegant composition, the dramatic coloring, rather than feeling any great urge to participate in the energetic proceedings..."
№4: "This scene is a most straightforward one, featuring the standard Missionary Position [capitalization by R. Lane].; but withal, the contrast of the young and naked, secret lover and the richly-clothed courtesan amid luxurious bedding..."
№5: "In a striking lesbian scene (which has no equivalent in Utamaro, and is, incidentally, often omitted in later editions of this album), the girl at left prepares to receive the harikata (dildo) worn by the older girl at right (who holds a seashell containing lubricant)."
№6: "In the first appearance of a matronly heroine in this series, we find a widow - with shaven eyebrows and clipped hair - sporting with a handsome yound shop-clerk, mounting him with all her might."
№7: "... lady of samurai court: here, shown taking advantage of an official outing to temple and theatre, to rendezvous with a secret lover on a teahouse balcony." R. Lane considers this design the least successful in the series, especially in comparison with the same theme by Utamaro: "Utamaro female is almost ferocious in her lust for sexual gratification", which does not sound true to me. See Utamaro's sheet №5 from the album Utamakura (歌まくら, Poem of the Pillow) [courtesy The British Museum without permission]:
Then, as Richard Lane states, "we are flung suddenly to the bottom rung of Edo society":
№8: "Here we find a fair yotaka ('night-hawk', e.i. streetwalker) accommodating a lusty client in a lumberyard by the bank of the Sumida River".
№9: '... a slightly plump harlot of the lower class receives a night visit from her lover, whose naked form she tries to cover with a cloak."
№10: "...likely maidservant and lackey - are depicted in bath-room, their passions are all too obviously fired by steaming water."
№11: "...this scene of courtesan and secret lover ranks high not only in Eiri's œuvre but also in the annals of the ukiyo-e genre itself. Both design and colouring are impeccable and, for this period, there is nothing even in the work of great Utamaro that really surpasses it." Again, a doubtful statement, however, this is Utamaro's design for the reader to judge:
The last design in my album is this:
#13: In most reference books it goes under number 13, and we will assign this number to the sheet. "The final scene of the album features naked participants, probably samurai man and wife. The print is rather subdued in tone and colour, if not in the degree of the passion displayed..."
An additional sheet, acquired separately from a reputable dealer in New York, is usually listed as №12:
№12: "One might think that Eiri has reached his peak with the preceding plate 11 - and indeed he has, in both esthetic and erotic terms. But the album is not yet finished, and the next scene lends a needed variety to the series, a slightly comic tableau featuring a middle-aged lackey attempting to forcibly seduce a servant girl of the same domicile". Utamaro's design, that inspired Eiri is here:
All descriptions are taken from Richard Lane's article at The Complete Ukiyo-e Shunga №9 Eiri, 1996. He concluded: "...Eiri's erotic series represents a major contribution to shunga art towards the close of ukiyo-e "Golden Age". In part inspired by Utamaro's classic album, this series withal constitutes a unified and original achievement, providing a cumulative effect of gracefully elegant yet glowing eroticism, which remains in the mind's eye long after the pictures themselves are far away."
I only would like to mention here that in several reference sources this album goes under name of Eisho; unfortunately, this mistake is reproduced at www.ukiyo-e.org, which miraculously shows exactly my print, but under the wrong name of the artist. The same mistake can be found at Shunga. The art of love in Japan. Tom and Mary Anne Evans. Paddington Press Ltd., 1975. ISBN 0-8467-0066-2; plates 6.74-6.77: Chōkyōsai Eishō, c. 1800. Even the British Museum edition of 2010 gives the same erroneous attribution: Chōkyōsai Eishō (1793-1801); they provide the following translation of title: "Clean Draft of a Letter" [see: Shunga. Erotic art in Japan. Rosina Buckland. The British Museum Press, 2010; pp. 110-112]. To the honour of the British Museum, I must admit that they have corrected themselves in Shunga. Sex and pleasure in Japanese art. Edited by Timothy Clark, et al. Hotei Publishing, 2013. Now, they say Chōkyōsai Eiri (worked c. 1790s-1801); they also provide a new title: "Neat Version of the Love Letter, or Pure Drawings of Female Beauty". I have already mentioned Richard Lane's version of title: "Love-letters, Love Consummated", and Chris Uhlenbeck's "Models of calligraphy". In poorly designed and printed Shunga. Erotic figures in Japanese art. Presented by Gabriele Mandel. Translated by Alison L'Eplattenier. Crescent Books, New York, 1983, the artist is named Shokyosai Eisho (beginning of the 19th century); title provided: "Models of Calligraphy". Correct attribution to Chōkyōsai Eiri also can be found at Poem of the pillow and other stories by Utamaro, Hokusai, Kuniyoshi and other artists of the floating world. Gian Carlo Calza in collaboration with Stefania Piotti. Phaidon Press, 2010; though the title is translated as "Clean Copy of Female Beauty".
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Suzuki Harunobu (鈴木 春信; c. 1725 – 15 July 1770).The Ide Jewel River, a Famous Place in Yamashiro Province (Ide no Tamagawa, Yamashiro no meisho), from the series The Six Jewel Rivers in Popular Customs (Fûzoku Mu Tamagawa).
Signed: Harunobu gaInscription - Poem: Koma tomete/ nao mizu kawan/ yamabuki no/ hana no tsuyu sou/ Ide no Tamagawa
References:MFA # 21.4540.
Waterhouse cat. #562; Pins, The Japanese Pillar Print (1982), #139; Ukiyo-e shûka 4 (1979), list #795.4, and supp. 2 (1982), pl. 565; Gentles, AIC cat. II (1965), p. 125, #201.
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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.
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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.
