/Collection
  • 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 ga

    Inscription - 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.

  • Unsigned print, attributed to Suzuki Harunobu. Erotic scene on open veranda with a winter landscape on background.
  • A shunga (erotic) print by Suzuki Harunobu  [鈴木 春信] (Japanese, c. 1725 – 1770) depicting a woman making love with a man in the palanquin (のりもの/乗り物) while the other woman "ties a sash about her hips below her obi."  The sheet is not signed; however, it is attributed to Harunobu. A reference image can be found in the Metropolitan Museum (NY) collection, Accession Number JP1635:

    http://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/45071

    According to the MET "the palanquin ... has carried these courtesans to the shore for a spring outing". Some time ago, a similar print was sold by Richard Kruml (description: A chuban shunga print showing the occupant of a kago in flagrante with one of the porters, having seized the opportunity of a stop on the journey. Published late 1760s. Rare). Another copy was sold at Sotheby's in Paris for €3,360 on November 27, 2002 (Lot 24), with a reproduction of the print's detail and description on p. 39: Suzuki Harunobu (1725 – 1770) | Shunga: couple dans un palanquin, vers 1768-1770, non-signe, cachet non identifé, cachets Charles Mitchell, Huguette Berès, Format chuban, 20.1 x 28.6 cm | 3000 – 4000 € | Il s’agit probablement de trois voyageurs, l’un d’entre eux debout près du palanquin faisant mine d’ignorer la scène. Bibliographie: Delay p. 87. Reference: [LIB-3121.2022] Sotheby's: Collection Huguette Berès – Estampes, dessins et livres illustrés japonais / 2 volumes; vol. 1. — Paris: Sotheby's, 2002.
  • Artist (attributed, no signature): Suzuki Harunobu [鈴木 春信] (Japanese, c. 1725 – 1770). The title is taken from [LIB-1478.2013] Gian Carlo Calza, Stefania Piotti. Poem of the pillow and other stories. — Phaidon Press, 2010; pp. 148-9. Alternative title: Man sucking woman's breast and a cat sitting under a bonsai tree. The open book beside the couple reads 子春 (Koharu). Woodblock print from the series Mirror Picture of Japan (Wakoku kagami);  Size: Horizontal chuban; 21 x 26 cm.  
  •   The print lacks signature. It is attributed by some to Suzuki Harunobu and by the others to Isoda Koryūsai.

    Attributed to Koryūsai: Pins #517/p.209, c. 1775 [AIC II: Clarence Buckingham Collection, 1925.2772], Ukiyo-e Taisei IV; Vignier & Inada, 1911; Ritsumeikan University Z0165-239.

    Attributed to Harunobu: Pins #239/p.132.; BM 1906,1220,0.85;

  • Iron tsuba of round form with slanting rays of light (shakoh) Christian motif (Jesuit's IHS symbol) in openwork (sukashi). Traditional description of this kind of design is called "tokei", or "clock gear". Edo period.

    Size: 77.7 x 76.1 x 6.7 mm.

    For information regarding shakoh tsuba see article 'Kirishitan Ikenie Tsuba" by Fred Geyer at Kokusai Tosogu Kai; The 2nd International Convention & Exhibition, October 18-23, 2006, pp. 84-91.  
  • Iron tsuba of round form with two overlapping triangles (uroko) motif  in openwork (sukashi). Triangle patterns usually associate with 'fish scale', mon of Hojo family (and others). Edo period or later.

    Size: 71.4 x 70.2 x 5.2 mm.

    An association with the Star of David is doubtful if not impossible.  
  • Iron tsuba of oval form with the motif of horse trappings in openwork (sukashi). Copper sekigane. Iron bones (tekkotsu) on the rim.

    Size: 80.4 x 75.8 x 5.2 mm

    NBTHK Certificate №454567, allegedly saying that it is Akasaka School, Muromachi period. A look-a-like tsuba in Robert. E. Haynes Catalog #7, 1983 on page 57 under №48 is described as follows: "A masterpiece second period Owari sukashi tsuba. The plate is of beautiful color and quality almost like velvet. The design is very hard to discern, it might be the horse trappings, or even a moon. The style and type of Owari tsuba shows the great tradition of the Momoyama period and why it was the renaissance in time, as well as the arts produced, through the long history of all Japanese art. Ca. 1580. Ht. 7.7 cm, Th. (center) 5.5 mm, (edge) 5.25 to 5.75 mm."

    Robert. E. Haynes Catalog #7, 1983, p. 57, №48.

    I believe we can safely attribute this tsuba to Owari School, c. 1580.    
  • Iron tsuba of round form with three stylized folding fans motif  in openwork (sukashi). Kogai-hitsu-ana with shakudō sekigane. Iron bones (tekkotsu) on the rim. Momoyama period or earlier. Possibly, Ko-Shōami school.

    Size: 76.8 x 75.7 x 4.0 mm.

    [Seller alleged that the motif is "Buddhist wheel", which seems unlikely.
  • Flapped folder of thick embossed paper 353 x 263 mm, with a vignette and manuscript to front: Stunden der Erbauung | 7 | ergötz liebe Bilder aus | dem Leben frommer Brü | der und Schwestern | • | M. Leÿtho. ||, six graphite pencil drawings, each glued to a paper sheet with guard tissue; mat size 339 x 253 mm mat; drawing size 220 x 165 mm. Translation of the title: Hours of Edification / 7 delightful pictures from the lives of pious brothers and sisters. Information about the artist at www.honesterotica.com: "Mitja Leytho, almost certainly a pseudonym, is yet another mediocre yet fascinating amateur artist from the Germany of the 1920s about whom we know absolutely nothing beyond the four portfolios which bear the ‘Leytho’ signature".        
  • Etching on laid paper, backed. Massar (1971): 59-61. View of the Pont Neuf in Paris, with the statue of Henry IV at centre in front of the Seine, the church of St.-Germaine l'Auxerrois and the Louvre to the right, and the Hôtel de Nevers and Tour de Nesle to the left (MET). in the banner below: LUDOVICO XIIII GALLIARUM ET NAV REGI; below image: PONS LVTETIÆ STRVCTVS, DICTVS NOVVS, ET QVÆ EX EO PROSPICI POSSVNT.; bellow: En pulcherrimus toto ... caufatus, vifere; along the bottom: Ste. Della Bella Florentinus In. e Fecit DD. 1646. Cum Privilegio Regis; additional lettering a lower left and right identifying places depicted.

    State: 2nd, with the weathercock on the belltower of Église Saint-Germain l'Auxerrois (under 8). Size: 35.5 x 67.6 cm. Condition: Three vertical folds, these partly cracked and backed at the bottom, dusty or slightly stained, partly slightly rubbed, a small diagonal crease on the upper left, tiny marginal blemishes.

    Quotation from Phyllis D. Massar. Presenting Stefano della Bella. — NY: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, [1971]: "For size and complexity, one of Della Bella's most impressive achievements is his view of Paris across the Pont Neuf from a point between the buildings bounding the Place Dauphine. Besides the well-known landmarks-the Hộtel de Nevers, the Tour de Nesle, the church of Saint Germain l'Auxerrois, and, at the centre, the bronze equestrian statue of Henri IV by the Florentines Giovanni Bologna and Pietro Tacca – the print provides a microcosm of Paris in transit across the Seine. With a glass, one can compile a census of 451 people, thirty-eight horses, nineteen dogs, three donkeys, and one lamb. All but lost in the vast scene, nevertheless, all contributing to it, are duelists, men fighting with staffs, brawlers routing passers-by, a tooth-puller making an extraction, sellers of sweetmeats and fruits, falconers, hunters with a pack of dogs, a legless cripple, many begging gypsies (one of them telling a fortune), and a hurdy-gurdy player with an audience. Moving among the splendid carriages is a humble water cart, and back among the market stands at the right is an early Seine-side bookstall."

    Catalogue raisonné: Massar (1971): pp. 58-61; De Vesme p. 132, № 850ii/ii. Contributor: Stefano della Bella (Italian, 1610 – 1664) – artist and engraver.
  • Stag antler netsuke of a recumbent ox. Signed: Tomomasa [友政]. Circa 1800. Dimensions: 56.1 x 20.7 x 36.8 mm Just speculation: There was a master in Kyoto named Tomotada who made netsuke with a recumbent ox motif. Our Tomomasa may be an epigone of a later date. Some even attribute the master to Meiji period. Provenance: Charles Ephrussi (1849-1905) acquired in the 1870s; a wedding gift in 1898 to his cousin Ritter Viktor von Ephrussi (1860-1945) and Baroness Emilie (Emmy) Schey von Koromla (1879-1938); retrieved post-war by their daughter Elizabeth de Waal (1899-1991); given by her to her brother Ignaz (Iggie) Ephrussi (1906-1994), Tokyo; bequeathed by him to his great-nephew Edmund de Waal (born 1964), London, author of “The Hare with Amber Eyes: a hidden inheritance”. London / New York: Chatto & Windus / Farrar, Straus & Giroux. ISBN 978-0099539551. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Ephrussihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ephrussi_familyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmund_de_Waal.
  • Description: single volume 24.5 x 19 cm, collated 4to, bound by a previous owner in quarter red morocco over marbled boards, raised bands, with gilt lettering in compartments: "SPADDY | DÉVERGONDAGES", red marbled endpapers. Printed on wove paper with watermark “RIVES”. Title-page: SPADDY | DÉVERGONDAGES | BRUXELLES | Aux Dépens d'un Amateur | 1948 || Pagination: [4] – blank, [1, 2] – h.t. / limitation, [3, 4] – t.p. / blank, 5-151 [152] – blank, [4] – blank; uncut, illustrated with 16 hand-coloured lithographs extraneous to collation after watercolours by Féodor Rojankowski [Rojan]. Table of contents on p. 151. Limitation: 250 copies of which №№ I – XVI with original watercolour and b/w suite of plates and №№ 17-250 on Rives paper with coloured lithography; this copy is № 100 of 234 Rives paper copies. Catalogue Raisonné: J.-P. Dutel (1920–1970) № 1389 / p. 128.
  • Two paperback volumes, 29.6 x 22.8 cm, pictorial softcover in full dust jacket with letering (see below); One the back DJ of both volumes lettered: “Sotheby’s | EST. 1744 (vertical) | GALERIE CHARPENTIER   76 RUE DE FAUBOURG SAINT-HONORÉ   75008 PARIS   WWW. SOTHEBYS.COM”. Vol. 1: DJ lettered in olive green: Sotheby’s | EST. 1744 (vertical) | COLLECTION HUGUETTE BERES | ESTAMPES, DESSINS ET LIVRES ILLUSTRES JAPONAIS | {HB monogram in red} | PARIS  MERCREDI 27 NOVEMBRE 2002 ||. Pagination: 2 ffl, [1-5] (h.t., t.p., Sommaire), 6-340, 2 ffl; 229 lots with ils.; sale PF2021 Vol. 2: DJ lettered in olive green: “Sotheby’s | EST. 1744 (vertical) | COLLECTION HUGUETTE BERES | ESTAMPES, DESSINS ET LIVRES ILLUSTRES JAPONAIS (SECONDE VENTE) | {HB monogram in red} | PARIS  MARDI 25 novembre 2003 ||. Pagination: 2 ffl, [1-7] (h.t., t.p., Sommaire, f.t.) 8-287 [288 blank], 2 ffl; 252 lots with ils.; sale PF3018. Contributors: Huguette Berès (French, 1913 – 1999)
  • Title: SONGS, | NAVAL AND NATIONAL, | OF THE LATE | CHARLES DIBDIN; | WITH A MEMOIR | AND | ADDENDA. | COLLECTED AND ARRANGED BY | THOMAS DIBDIN, | AUTHOR OF “THE ENGLISH FLEET,” CABINET,” &c. &c. | WITH CHARACTERISTIC SKETCHES BY | GEORGE CRUIKSHANK. | LONDON: | JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET. | (PUBLISHED TO THE ADMIRALTY) | 1841.|| Pagination: [4 binder's blanks] [i-vi] vii-xv [xvi advert.], [1] 2-336 [4 binder's blanks], engraved frontispiece and 11 plates by George Cruikshank. Collation: 8vo; [A] – Y8. Binding: brown ¾ morocco, ruled in gilt over marbled boards, marbled endpapers, raised bands, gilt in compartments, top margin gilt, title lettering and year to spine, by V. Krafft. Bookplate to front pastedown “Ex Libris Robert Hoe”. Provenance: HOE, Robert III (American, 1839-1909) – American businessman and producer of printing press equipment. Catalogue raisonné: Albert M. Cohn (1924): № 231, p. 75. Makers: Charles Dibdin the younger (British, 1768—1833) – author. Thomas John Dibdin (British, 1771—1841) – author. William Clowes (British, 1779—1847), printer. John Murray III (British, 1808—1892), publisher. George Cruikshank (British, 1792—1878), artist, emgraver.
  • In an owner’s quarter buckram cardboard folder with a vegetation diaper design, ms blue ink lettering to front: “Songes galantes | 12 dessins par | Margit Gaal” at the centre, “Arpad Rob Laszlo | à Paris | 1938” in the lower right corner. Loose sheets with the 1st leaf t.p. / table de planches, and then 12 leaves of lithograph plates. Title-page: SONGES GALANTES | 12 DESSINS PAR | MARGIT GAAL | ÉDITION PRIVÉE | PARIS 1920 ||, ms inscription in blue ink in the middle : “Collection par | Árpad Rob Laśzló | techn. d’avion | Paris 1937”. Limitation: Edition limited to 500 copies of which № 1-100 signed by the author. This is copy № 407. References: Dutel (1920-1970) № 1413 (published in 1921); Honesterotica (indicated the year of death as 1965, however, there is no proof). Contributors: Gaál, Margit (Hungarian, 1898 – 1920) – artist.  
  • Small amber-glazed marbled (Jiaotai) pottery tripod censer. Inside the glaze is monochrome because the clay itself is not marbled. Spur marks on the bottom. Small chip on a lip. China, Henan province, the Tang dynasty [唐朝] (618 – 907). Diameter: 6.3 cm; Height: 5.5 cm.
  • The edition consists of two albums:

    1) Skizzenbuch: Hundert Federzeichnungen von Heinrich Kley. — München: Albert Langen, [1909]. — pp.: [1-4] 5-63 [64], illustr. Printed by Hesse & Becker in Leipzig. Bound in the original brown moire covered boards, with a paste-down drawing on the front, gilt cover titles, original patterned endpapers.

    2) Skizzenbuch II. Hundert Federzeichnungen von Heinrich Kley. — München: Albert Langen, [1910]. — pp.: [1-4] 5-64, illustr. Printed by Hesse & Becker in Leipzig; paper by Bohnenberger & Cie.; binding by E. A. Enders, Leipzig. Bound in the original bluish-gray moire covered boards, with a paste-down drawing on the front, gilt cover titles, original patterned endpapers.

    The number of printed copies unknown. Reproduction of ink drawings by Heinrich Kley, 1st edition.

    Dimensions of each album: 32 x 24.5 cm; Quarto. Heinrich Kley (April 15, 1863 in Karlsruhe – 1945? in Munich) was a German illustrator, editorial illustrator and painter.