Artist: Utagawa Kuniyoshi (歌川国芳) (1797–1861) Signed: Ichiyūsai Kuniyoshi ga [一勇斎 國芳画] in red cartouche Date: VI/1842 – V ic/1846, single nanushi censor seal Murata (村) for censor Murata Sahei [村田佐兵衛]. Publisher: Unknown, Izuzen (Bei, 米); Marks 06-028 | U103a Media: Rigid fan print (Aiban Yoko-e Uchiwa-e, 合判横絵 団扇絵), 224 x 290 mm

Half-length portrait of a woman facing slightly to the right. She wears a patterned kimono with multiple floral and seasonal motifs, including uchiwa (round fans), plum blossoms, maple leaves, chrysanthemums, snow-covered bamboo, pine branches, and peonies. Her obi is tied in front, and a red collar is visible beneath the layers. Her hair is arranged in an elaborate updo and is adorned with a hairpin featuring a rabbit and a crescent moon, referencing lunar symbolism. She dedicates a hand towel at a washing trough (手水舎, temizuya) in a shrine.

In the background, several towels are hanging, featuring various mon (family crests), symbols, and inscriptions:

• Three oak leaves – Shinto priesthood kamon
• Crossed or intersecting hawk feathers – family crest of Asano Naganori (浅野 長矩, 1667 – 1701)
• Kiri-mon (Paulownia crest, associated with Kuniyoshi)
• Toshidama (seal of the Utagawa school)
• Masu (枡, measuring box) motif – a square with diagonal lines
• Kanōya Fukuna (叶屋 福那) – probably a restaurant.

References:

1. Kuniyoshi Project
2. [LIB-3428.2025] Christie’s, New York: Japanese Prints, Paintings, and Screens, Monday, 24 November 1997 / Sales Catalogue, № 130, p. 63.

This uchiwa-e print (230 × 323 mm) presents a bust-length portrait in a three-quarter view, facing left, depicting a fashionable married woman, as indicated by her blackened teeth (ohaguro, 鉄漿)—a practice reserved for married women and courtesans in Edo-period Japan. She is engaged in personal grooming, possibly cleaning her teeth with a toothpick or applying red lipstick (beni, 紅). She wears a blue kimono with circular motifs featuring a stylized eye-like pattern (janome-gasa, 蛇の目傘) layered over a red tie-dyed undergarment (shibori, 絞り). A small hand towel (tenugui, 手拭い), decorated with blue flowers and butterflies, rests over her left shoulder. Her Shimada-style coiffure is elaborately adorned with kanzashi (簪, hair ornaments), including a blue ribbon, a floral-patterned comb, and a gilt hairpin. In her right hand, she holds a red lacquer cup. The soft brown background is decorated with floral roundels, which appear as negative space, meaning the background was printed while the roundels were left uninked.

The print lacks an artist's signature or publisher's seal. Still, it bears a censor’s approval seal (kiwame, 極) and a partially visible date seal, likely 申 (Saru, Year of the Monkey), corresponding to Bunsei 7 (1824).

Artist: Utagawa Hiroshige [歌川 広重] a.k.a. Andō Hiroshige [安藤 広重] (Japanese, 1797 – 1858) Signed: Hiroshige ga (廣重画), with seal Ichiryūsai (一立齋) Publisher: Anonymous/Unknown Date: Circa 1844–1845 Media: Color woodblock print, fan print (chuban uchiwa-e), 190 × 243 mm Title: View of Lake Kawaguchi in Kai Province (甲斐川口湖水之図, Kai Kawaguchi Kosui no Zu) Series: Untitled series of views of Mount Fuji Provenance: Nelkin Collection The print depicts an expansive view of Lake Kawaguchi (河口湖), one of the Five Lakes of Mount Fuji, located in Kai Province (modern-day Yamanashi Prefecture). Dominating the composition is the majestic silhouette of Mount Fuji, rendered in delicate gradation from grey to white, with snow at the summit. The lower portion of the mountain is softly enveloped in mist, heightening its monumental presence.

In the foreground, a steep bank supports two pine trees (松), while the middle ground shows a peaceful lakeside with scattered villages and trees. The upper section of the print fades into a gradient sky of pale green and blue, reinforcing a tranquil atmosphere.

Executed with Hiroshige’s characteristic economy of line and subtle use of colour, the composition makes striking use of negative space and vertical layering. As noted by Faulkner, this design belongs to a rare group of fan prints by Hiroshige that are small in size, square in format, and lack the typical cut-away lower section found in most uchiwa-e. No other prints from this series are known beyond the two recorded examples.

Reference:

[LIB-3429.2025] Christie’s, New York: Japanese Art, Thursday 24 April 1997 / Sales Catalogue; p. 144, lot 288.

[LIB-1344.2017] Rupert Faulkner. Hiroshige Fan Prints: Victoria and Albert Museum Far Eastern Series. — London: V&A Publications / New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 2001; p. 92, Plate 64.

The second print from the series at Rupert Faulkner — Plate 65, View of the Sea at Kisarazu in Kazusa Province (Kazusa Kisarazu Kaijō no Zu)