/Collection
  • Макиавелли Николай. Государь (Il Principe) и Рассуждения на первые три книги Тита Ливия. Пер. c итал. Н. Курочкина. Издание "Русской книжной торговли". - СПб.; тип. Тиблена и Ко. (Неклюдова), 1869. - 502 стр.

  • A cast iron painted 19th century style money box in the form of a negro, the arm articulated to insert coins.
  • Iron tsuba of round form with design of butterfly (left) and dragonfly (right) in openwork (sukashi), outlined with brass wire. Thin plate also decorated with five concentric circular rows of brass dots (nail heads) in ten-zōgan; brass wire outlines of the center of the plate. School: Ōnin ten-zogan. Late Muromachi period, 16th century. Diameter: 88 mm, thickness at seppa-dai: 3.1 mm. Another tsuba of similar design, Tōshō school, is illustrated in this collection; see TSU-0353.

    TSU-0353: Tōshō tsuba, Muromachi period.

    Reference to the design has been found at "Japanese Swords and Tsuba from the Professor A. Z. Freeman and the Phyllis Sharpe Memorial collections". Sotheby's, London, Thursday 10 April 1997; p. 18, item 37: "pierced with two large formalised butterflies...".

    A kamakura-bori tsuba. Momoyama period. Freeman & Sharpe Memorial Collections.

  • Iron tsuba of round form with circular iron wire fastened to the surface with iron and brass staples (mukade-zōgan); brass ring about 2.5 mm wide along the rim with chisel marks. Design repeats on the reverse. Copper sekigane. Early Edo, 17th century. Size: Height: 83.3 mm; width 83.9 mm; thickness at seppa-dai: 4.5 mm. Weight 173.6 g. Design is thought to resemble a centipede. "Centipede-like inlay (mukade zogan) of alternating iron and brass staples produce an appearance that was particularly favored by Takeda Shingen (1521-1573), one of the most powerful warlords of his time. The centipede is sacred to Bishamon (God of War) and especially propitious for a warrior. Shingen type, 16th century.” [The Peabody Museum collection of Japanese sword guards with selected pieces of sword furniture, by John D. Hamilton. Photographs by Mark Sexton. Salem, MA, 1975.] See also: http://varshavskycollection.com/shingen-tsuba/ SOLD
  • 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.  
  • [SOLD]

    Iron tsuba of slightly elongated round form carved and inlaid in gold and shibuichi with a long-armed monkey hanging from a pine tree branch reaching for the reflection of a crescent moon in the stream. A pine tree carved with details inlaid in gold on the reverse. The design seems to be inspired by Kaneie work (Compton III, p. 10, №6a; Tsuba no bi, 1947, p. 33, №56).

    Dimensions: 76.8 x 74.2 x 3.6 mm. Mid-Edo period. Unsigned.

    Compton III, p. 10, №6a

    Tsuba no bi, 1947, p. 33, №56.

       
  • 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.    
  • Isoda Koryūsai (礒田 湖龍斎, 1735–1790), flourished: 1769 to 1790. The print lacks signature (signature erased).

    Attributed definitely to Koryūsai: Jacob Pins, #491 [p.202] - Saigyo Hoshi admiring Mount Fuji. Signature erased but convincingly attributed to Koryusai. Tikotin Museum, Haifa. Catalogue raisonné: Allen Hockley: A3-J-5 (p. 261).

    Saigyō Hōshi (西行 法師, 1118 – March 23, 1190) was a famous Japanese poet of the late Heian and early Kamakura period.

  • Iron tsuba of round form with brown patina decorated with the design of a Buddhist temple bell (tsurigane) in openwork (sukashi), with details outlined in brass wire (sen-zōgan), the outer ring  decorated with two rows of brass dots (ten-zōgan), and the bell details carved in sukidashi-bori as on kamakura-bori pieces.

    Ōnin school. Unsigned. Late Muromachi period, 16th century. Dimensions: 88.8 x 88.3 x 3.0 mm. As per Merrily Baird, two legends are usually associated with the image of tsurigane, a large, suspended Buddhist bell: one is that of Dojo Temple (Dojo-ji), and the other is of Benkei stealing the tsurigane of Miidera Temple. Interestingly, this type of bell (tsurigane) is not described as a family crest (mon), while suzu and hansho bells are.  
  • Iron tsuba with hammer marked surface and design of a plum and cherry blossoms to the right of nakaga-ana in openwork (sukashi). Raised rim, typical to katchushi school. The thickness of the plate provides for later Muromachi period making.

    Late Muromachi period (1514-1573). Size: 85.8 x 85.0 x 3.6 (center), 4.1 (rim) mm; weight: 136 g.  
  • Engraving by J.J. Balechou after E. Jeaurat.  A husband and wife ask a quack doctor for advice about health: he suggests substituting himself for the husband in the wife's affections, and she agrees: Épigrammes de Jean-Baptiste Rousseau (French, 1671–1741).

    Date: 1743.

    Size: 380 x 270 mm

    Inscriptions under the image:

    Top: Peint par E. Jeaurat | L'Operateur Barri | Grave par Balechou 1743

    Middle: Sur leurs santés un Bourgeois et sa femme

    Interrogeoient l'Operateur Barri, Lequel leur dit : Pour vous guérir, Madame, Baume plus sûr n'est que votre Mari, Puis se tournant vers l'époux amaigri, Pour vous, dit il, femme vous est mortelle, Las ! dit alors l'Epoux à sa femelle, Puis qu'autrement ne pouvons nous guérir, Que faire donc ? Je n'en sçai rien, dit elle,

    Mais, par Saint Jean, je ne veux point mourir.

    Rousseau Epig. X

    Center bottom: a Paris chez Lepicie Graveur du Roi au coin de l'Abreuvoir du Quay des Orfevres. Et Chez L. Surugue Aussi Graveur du Roi rue des Noyers vis a vis le mur de St. Yves Avec Privilege du Roi.
  • Le Grelot / journal illustré politique et satirique, №21, dimanche, 3 septembre 1871. Artist: Caporal (signed in the lower-left corner) Engraver/Printer: J. Lefman (signed LEFMAN SC in the lower-right corner) Title: LE COUP D'ÉTAT DU 4 SEPTEMBRE  1871. The Coup d'Etat of September 4th 1871. The artist equalled the 4th of September revolution when Napoleon III was ousted and the Second Empire collapsed, to a coup d'Etat. Although the number is marked September 3, it is dedicated to the events of September 4th. This was a usual French newspaper practice to postdate their issues. That's why they almost always operated with categories such as "today", "yesterday", and "tomorrow" instead of definitive calendar dates. "Le Grelot" means "The Sleigh Bell". Personages: Ratapoil – fictional personage invented by Honoré Daumier (French, 1808 – 1879), a Napoleon III caricaturized figure. Ratapoil is addressing the audience holding up Napoléon Bonaparte's tricorn cocked hat. Pietri – Joseph Marie Piétri [Joachim Piétri] (French, – is sitting in the first row, taking notes. Rouher – Eugène Rouher (French, 1814 – 1884), president of the Senat. Canrobert – François Marcellin Certain de Canrobert (French, 1809 – 1895), French Marshal, captured by the Prussian army in Metz with Marshal Bazaine during the surrender of Metz on October 28, 1870. Ollivier – Olivier Émile Ollivier (French, 1825 – 1913), head of the government. Hiding behind the theater decoration are: Napoleon III (Lui!), his wife Eugénie (Elle!), their son Prince Imperial (Le P'tit!), and Pierre Bonaparte (L'Autre). Sitting in the theatre box facing the scene: Adolphe Thiers (French, 1797 – 1877), Jules Favre (French, 1809 – 1880), Louis-Jules Trochu [Le General Trochu] (French, 1815 – 1896), and the other members of the "Government of National Defence". On the gallery: youngsters and two men in sans-culottes hats. An unidentified person on a ladder holding to an eagle figure is having a paintbrush and a bucket with 'tender green' paint. Ref: Musée Carnavalet
  • Title: GEORGE CRUIKSHANK'S | TABLE-BOOK. | EDITED BY | GILBERT ABBOTT À BECKETT. | ILLUSTRATED BY GEORGE CRUIKSHANK. | LONDON : | PUBLISHED AT THE PUNCH OFFICE, 92, FLEET STREET ; | AND SOLD BY ALL BOOKSELLERS. | MDCCCXLV.|| Pagination: ffl [2 blanks] [i, ii - engaved t.p. w/guard, verso blank] [iii], iv - letterpress t.p., colophon] [v], vi - list of engravings on still and on wood, [vii] viii - contents [2 - blank, engraved frontispiece] [1] 2-284 [2 blanks] bfl; 12 full-page steel etchings and 116 woodcuts and glyphographs by G. Cruikshank. Binding: Hardcover, 4to, 24.4 x 17 cm, later full red morocco by Kelly and Sons with gilt and embossed designs to covers, designs, title and year lettering to spine, facsimile in gilt of Cruikshank's signature to front cover, gilt line to inner edges, top edge gilt, marbled endpapers. Armorial bookplate of Harold A. Wernher of Luton Hoo to front pastedown. Major-General Sir Harold Augustus Wernher (1893 – 1973) – British military officer. Originally bound in red cloth, this binding by Kelly and Sons (Packer, Maurice. Bookbinders of Victorian London. — London: British Library, 1991 page 84). Title without the bottom section with lettering, on top lacking the 'Price one shilling', № 1, Vol. 1. inscriptions. Catalogue raisonné: A. M. Cohn № 191, p. 66-67.  
  • Small six-lobed tripod censer with an outer surface decorated in a form of dragon skin, distant parts of the feet and centre of the bottom unglazed, a drip of blue glaze inside. China, the Tang dynasty [唐朝] (618 – 907). Diameter: 8 cm; Height: 7 cm.
  • Title: REFLECTIONS | ON THE | REVOLUTION IN FRANCE, | AND ON THE | PROCEEDINGS IN CERTAIN SOCIETIES | IN LONDON | RELATIVE TO THAT EVENT. | IN A | LETTER | INTENDED TO HAVE BEEN SENT TO A GENTLEMAN | IN PARIS. | BY THE RIGHT HONOURABLE | EDMUND BURKE. | — | {in lozenges} THE SECOND EDITION. | —| LONDON: | PRINTED FOR J. DODSLEY, IN PALL-MALL. | M.DCC.XC. || Pagination: [4 blanks] [i-iii] iv, 1-356 [4 blanks]. Collation: 8vo; π2 B-Z8, Aa2. Binding: Quarter calf with marbled boards, gilt fillets, red label with gilt lettering to spine. "King John Haggerston, 1790" handwritten ink inscription to front endpaper, t.p. and p. iii. Seems like Sir John Haggerston, 9th Baronet.
  • Softcover, 24 x 16.5 cm, publisher's pictorial wrappers, lettering to spine, pp.: [6] 7-224. Full reproduction of Katsushika Hokusai's [葛飾 北斎] (Japanese, 1760 – 1849) series of three illustrated books [絵本, e-hon] One Hundred Views of Mount Fuji [富嶽百景, Fugaku hyakkei], published in Japan in 1834-1849, with commentaries.
  • Title: ZICHI | A bevezető tanulmányt írta | és a képeket válogatta | GELLÉR KATALIN | Introduced and selected by | KATALIN GELLÉR | CORVINA || Pagination: [1-4] 5-44 + 34 leaves of illustrations, (66 plates). Exterior: 32.5 x 28 cm, hardcover, original dark green cloth with silver lettering to spine, pictorial DJ. Text in Hungarian and English. Artist: Mihály Zichy [Michael von Zichy] (Hungarian, 1827 – 1906).