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Mori Sosen (1747-1821). A Monkey Seated on a Rock with an Infant Monkey. Hanging scroll painting. Ink and colour on silk. Signed: Sosen. Sealed: Sosen. 108.3 x 38.3 cm. Provenance: According to the box inscriptions, the painting was in the possession of Itakura Katsunao, a daimyo lord in present-day Gunma, in 1808. In 1881, the painting was subsequently acquired by Negishi Shôrei (1833-1897) a master swordsman who established the Negishi school of shuriken ("The only specialist school to have survived is the Negishi-ryū, which was founded by Negishi Shorei in the mid-1800s".)
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Yamagane tsuba of round form with design of a 14 petal chrysanthemum (kiku) in cast openwork (sukashi), with slightly raised rounded rim. Early Muromachi period (1393-1457). Size: Height: 64.5 mm; Width: 64.0 mm; Thickness at seppa-dai: 4.1 mm; Weight: 52.5 g. Provenance: Sasano collection (though not illustrated in the book 'Sasano: Japanese Sword Guard Masterpieces from the Sasano Collection, 1994', which only covers tsuba made of iron). Wooden box (tomobako) with inscription (hakogaki) by Sasano Masayuki. References: Illustrated on p. 140 at Tosogu: Treasure of the samurai by Graham Gemmell in the article Muromachi period tsuba by Robin Peverett, London, 1991, pp. 131-145. Sold at Sotheby's, London, Thursday 10 April 1997 Sotheby's, London, 1997 [Japanese Swords and Tsuba from the Professor A.Z. Freeman and the Phyllis Sharpe Memorial collections], p. 16: "A ko-kinko bronze Tsuba, early Muromachi period (1393-1453) of circular form, with raised rounded rim, pierced with kiku petals and with a small elongated kozuka-hitsu, the work appearing to be cast and finished by hand. 6.4cm, thickness at centre 4.15mm, at rim 4.8mm. With a Tomobako, bearing a hakogaki by Masayuki Sasano, with rating Shu. Estimated: £1,000-1,500." Hakogaki (courtesy M. Sesko): 古金工 鐔 Ko-Kinkō tsuba 菊花透 無銘 山銅地透 時代 室町前期 古雅入念 秀作 昭和戊辰年伏月 素心鑑 kikka-sukashi, mumei yamagane, ji-sukashi jidai Muromachi-zenki koga nyūnen, shūsaku Showa tsuchinoe-tatsudoshi fukugetsu Soshinkan Kikka-sukashi, unsigned. Of yamagane and with ji-sukashi. Era is early Muromachi period. Excellent and carefully made work of classical elegance. June in the year of the dragon of the Shōwa era (1988) Soshinkan (pen name of Sasano Masayuki).
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Well-forged iron plate of round shape (maru-gata) is decorated with water weeds or arabesque (karakusa) in flat brass inlay (hira-zōgan) all over and eight family crests (mon) of round form in cast brass with delicate linear carving (kebori) and openwork (sukashi). Crests represent: [at 9 hours] three counter-clockwise commas or swirls (tomoe); [at 10:30] plum blossom (ume); [at 12:00, 1:130, and 7:30] - stylized flower made by cutting out five suhama symblos (flower-shaped suhama); [at 3:00] bellflower (kikyō); [at 4:30] seven-star crest (shichiyō-mon); [at 6:00] cherry blossom (sakura). Brass-trimmed ryo-hitsu. Copper sekigane. Yoshirō school. Momoyama or early Edo period, end of the 16th to first half of the 17th century (1574-1650). Inscription on seppa-dai: 八幡 - Hachiman. Size: height 89.6 mm, width 89.3 mm, thickness at seppa-dai 3,0 mm. Weight 129.7 g. NBTHK certificate № 4007685, June 27, 2015: HOZON (Worthy of Preservation). As for the inscription, Nihonto Message Board blog discussion provides the following explanation of the inscription: "An expression of conviction as to being the best under the sun". On the other hand, there may be more in this confluence of symbols: the tomoe crest at 9:00 is "the kamon of Hachiman, the war god" [Family Crests of Japan; Stone Bridge Press, Berkeley, CA, 2007, p. 108]. The character 八 in the inscription cut stronger than the other kanji, and may be by a different hand in different time. 八 (hachi, eight): "The numeral eight was appreciated because its shape broadens toward the bottom, symbolizing eternal expansion" [ibid, p. 119]. It may be said that this tsuba is dedicated to Hachiman. Other crests (suhama, bellflower, seven-stars, plum and cherry blossoms) collectively allude to "good old times" when Fijiwara and Taira clans were in full bloom. Markus Sesko believes that the inscriptions reads: Hachiman: "the inscription is/was HACHIMAN (八幡), the God of War and a relatively popular inscription for tsuba, swords and armor." Elliott Long and Robert Haynes provide the following explanation of the inscription: "...hachi is correct and represents the name of the HACHI SHRINE. The inscription reads 'YAWATA' which is the name of the mountain in Mino Province where the HACHI Shrine is located". Details on Hachiman Shrine in Yawata (八幡市) can be found elsewhere, including Historical and geographical dictionary of Japan by Edmond Papinot. Van Ham auction house provides the following description: MON-SUKASHI TSUBA. MARUGATA. Japan. Momoyama period. Yoshiro school. Iron with inlays of brass. In hira-zogan technique with kebori engraving eight different family emblems (mon). An old inscription is dedicated to the deity Hachiman. D.4.5mm, Ø 8.3cm. Condition A/B. Supplement: Wooden box and NBTHK certificate.
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Evening Snow on Mount Hira (Hira no bosetsu), from the series Eight Views of Ōmi in Modern Guise (Ryaku Ōmi hakkei, (略近江八景). About 1773–75 (An'ei 2–4). Artist: Isoda Koryūsai (Japanese, 1735–1790) CATALOGUE RAISONNÉ: Hockley 2003, p. 202, #F-21-1 DIMENSIONS: Vertical chûban; 26 x 19.3 cm (10 1/4 x 7 5/8 in.)Signed: Koryû ga [湖竜画]
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Pre-Columbian, South Coast of Peru, Nazca, ca. 22- BCE - 125 CE.Polychrome vessel of organic, phytomorphic form and thin walls finely painted with six slithering serpents and protruding floral motifs in hues of red, orange, cream, black, grey, and white.
Chips of base and rim. Pressure fissures on and a bit above the base. Surface wear commensurate with age.
Size: Diameter: 19 cm; Height: 16 cm; Mouth diameter: 8.5 cm.
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Iron tsuba of circular form with design of pine trees (matsu) and monkey toys (kukurizaru) in openwork (ko-sukashi). Ko-Katchushi school.
Raised rim (mimi) with iron bones (tekkotsu). Size: Diameter: 99.5 mm; Thickness: 2.1 mm at centre; 4.3 mm at the rim.Early Muromachi period: 15th century (Kakitsu - Bun'an era, 1441 - 1449).
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Utagawa Kunisada [歌川 国貞]; a.k.a. Utagawa Toyokuni III [三代歌川豊国] (Japanese, 1786 – 1865).
Signed: Toyokuni ga [豊国 画] in a red toshidama cartouche.
Publisher: Kojimaya Jūbei (c. 1797-1869), seal: Hanmoto, Jū [板元, 十] (Marks 19-043 | 264c).
Double nanushi censor seals: Mera & Watanabe – Kaei 4 (1851).
Uncut fan print (uchiwa-e), 298 x 228 mm depicting a young woman adjusting her hairpin and holding a portable lantern (andon) on a marine background with the full moon, nearby boats and distant cormorant fishers. -
Artist: Utagawa Kunisada [歌川 国貞], a.k.a. Utagawa Toyokuni III [三代 歌川 豊国] (Japanese, 1786 – 1865). Signed: Toyokuni ga [豊国 画] in a red toshidama cartouche Block carver: Yokokawa Takejirō [横川竹二郎] (Japanese, fl. 1845 – 1863), seal: 彫竹 – Hori Take. Publisher: Ibaya Senzaburō [伊場屋仙三郎] (Japanese, fl. c. 1845 – 1847). Combined date and kiwame seal: Ansei 5 (II-XII/1858). Size: Untrimmed fan print (uchiwa-e), 300 x 232 mm.
A young woman adjusting her hairpin on a balcony during the Tanabata festival, as inscribed on the white folding fan: [七夕] (Tanabata).
Inscription on the blue book (print title): Early autumn [はつ秋や] (hatsu akiya), inscription on the purple book (series title): Short love songs, second volume [端唄の意 二編] (Hauta no kokoro nihen). According to Marks (2010), Hauta no kokoro nihen series of fan prints was published by Ibaya in 1858 (p. 267|P6871).
The series refers to love songs of a certain type popular in late Edo. They were performed with the accompaniment of a shamisen, “Seven herbs of autumn, the song of the insects is not heard; the bodies of lightning bugs are burnt, and the precious writings of love are getting thinner like the song of the insects as I am waiting for you. So, on an early autumn evening, I spot the glitter of a lightning bug that lingered among the autumn grasses, and while listening to the pine cricket, I am singing with my heart troubled by love". [Tokyo National Museum; translation provided by Elena Varshavsky].Tanabata [たなばた] or [七夕] – meaning "Evening of the seventh", also known as the Star Festival [星祭] (Hoshi matsuri) – is a Japanese festival originating from the Chinese Qixi Festival. One popular Tanabata custom is to write one's wishes on a piece of paper and hang that piece of paper on a specially erected bamboo tree, in the hope that the wishes become true.
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The 103rd Bon Bock Dinner Invitation
Artist: François Avenet a.k.a. Alexandre Ferdinandus (French, 1850 – 1888).Bismarck à Alphonse
Alphonse, cher poissure! Roi pschutt du monde u’lan! Je te fais Colonel des pillards de pendules! Si cela fait rager le Bon-Bock et les Jules Tant mieux! Mais garde bien to Trône Basque-Uhlan. O. Pradels.
Bismarck to Alphonse Alphonse, dear annoyance! King shushh from the Uh'lan world I name you Colonel of the looters of pendulums! If this makes the Bon-Bock and Jules angry All the better! But protect your Basque-Uhlan throne well. O. Pradels.
Dear sir, The 103rd Dinner of the Bon-Bock will take place next Tuesday at 7 pm precisely at the Grape Harvest of Bourgognel, 14, Jessaint street (la Chapelle plaza). If you would do us the honour of coming: Please write to Mr E. Bellot, 37 St Marc street, on Monday night at the latest. Your answer is absolutely mandatory to prepare the place settings (our friends from the theatres excluded.) The 'yes' comes with a payment of the due whether or not you end up attending. Program for our last evening. 1st – H. Covin (piano) a waltz composed by him. 2nd – Courment: Le Chanteur du roi (King's singer) (1st series) by the author. 3rd – Dulin: Rondeau from opera "Le petite mariée" (The Little Bride) 4th – Doublemard: Memory of the bather's beach 5th – "The Saltimbanque family" 6th – Maubant: Romance of "La Traviata". 7th – Étienne Carjat Toast to the Alsace-Lorraine, verses by the author. 8th – Guillabert from the opera "Nantes: le Press mud" by Fauré. 9th – Charles Delacour: the Poet, Sonnet. 10th – "Duke Jean" 11th – Fromentin. Panurge (Mus. of Hervé) 13th – A. Claris "The Hatred" verses by the author, Benty: my lil’ nephew: lyrics by Clouvier, music by Darcier. 15th – Charles Delacour: the lesson in arithmetic. 16th – J.-B.Collegnon, "Fanchette", romance by the author. 17th – Doublemard: the Coach driver (monologue by P. Marzin). 18th – Dulin: the horn music by Flégier. 19th – J.-B. Collignon: "Her name was Marguerite", lyrics by L. Baillet music by Collignon. 20th – L. Bellot, an announcement from the incoherent arts exhibition curated by Jules Férry. All of our thanks to Mr Henri Covin who played the piano all night and to our Friends Ferdinandus for his sketch that is absolutely bam and to O. Pradels for his quatrain among the most pazazz worthy. We send you our most cordial salutation, Monsieur. E. Bellot, G. Durater, E. Cottin, R. Géner, L. Bocilart, H. Héger, Henner, Jean Brenner, Et. Carjat, Margue, Dulin, Fromentin, H. Stéger, A . Stéger, Ch. Delacour, G. Mayer, Sanzel, Denis Poulot, Bricaire, Doublemard, Vigneron, T. Boulart, L. Mayeur, Mayeur daugter, Magnan, E. Maubant, Guillabert, H. Corin. Lebreton, Tucy, Blangarnon. Comt. Vallée, Dr Pourbain, Latapie, E. Colleville, Roumier, Hoffer, Ollivier, Verchère, Delhaye, Dr. Deschamps, Ch. Hofer, Dr. Geneirp, Péginissel père et fils, Pierson, Guérin, Cronnot, de Courmont, Eliot, Fasquelle et fils Malasamy, Guillaume fils, G. Caux, Dabert, Michel père et fils, Rey. Vaundremer, Girau, General Lipovvski, Ballin, Ersetemenn, Délivré, Lepéné, de Bouillanne, V. Roser, Delbroueth, Pasquet, Treterre, A. Claris, Thoniel, du Castaings, Pingray, Benjamin, J. Petit, Champon, Destape, Viotlat, F. Percheron, Dr. Hubert, A. Aubin, Zimmermann, Vannes, A. Heulard, Gourlet, Coppin, Hubner, Laprandie, Samuel, Séguin, Ménard, Cougoul, J. B. Collignon, Berti, Besnier, Gillandi. 9th Year 103rd Dinner of the Bon-Bock (The 2nd Tuesdays of Each Month). Due 5:50 pm. This invitation is strictly personal. Paris 3 October 1883. Bismarck hands a certificate for the title of colonel along with a lance, an Uhlan helmet (Polish cavalry) and a sword to a joker. The joker wears a traditional Polish folk hat inscribed with 'XIV' and holds a guitar. ______ Comments: Émile Bellot [L. Bellot] (French, the second half of the 19th century) – engraver, model for a painting by Édouard Manet "Le bon bock", the founder of Le Bon Bock Dinner. Covin, Henri (French, 1845 – 1887) – Musician, arranger. Étienne Carjat (French, 1828 – 1906) – Journalist, caricaturist and photographer. Charles Delacour (French, 18.. – 1898) – Composer. Jean-Baptiste Collignon (French, 18..-1906) – Composer. Ange Flégier (French, 1846 – 1927) – Composer. Joseph Darcier (French, 1819 – 1883) – Composer, singer and actor. Le petite mariée (The Little Bride) – a three-act opéra-bouffe, music by Charles Lecocq, libretto by Eugène Leterrier and Albert Vanloo. La plage de la Baigneuse – beach of Saint Jean de Monts in the Vendée department in the Pays de la Loire region in western France. La Famille du Saltimbanque: L'Enfant Blessé – The Family of Street Acrobats: the Injured Child – painting by Gustave Doré (French, 1832 – 1883) produced in 1873. Henri-Polydore Maubant (1821-1902) – actor, vocalist (baritone) Gabriel Urbain Fauré (French, 1845 – 1924) – French composer, organist, pianist, and teacher. Hervé [Louis Auguste Florimond Ronger] (French, 1825 – 1892) – French singer, composer, librettist, conductor and scene painter, inventor of the genre of operetta in Paris. -
Title: GEORGE CRUIKSHANK'S | OMNIBUS. | ILLUSTRATED WITH ONE HUNDRED ENGRAVINGS ON STEEL | AND WOOD. | "De omnibus rebus et quibusdam aliis." | EDITED BY LAMAN BLANCHARD, ESQ. | LONDON : | TILT AND BOGUE, FLEET STREET. | MDCCCXLII. Pagination: ffl, [2] – blanks [i, ii] – blank / engraved t.p. w/guard, [iii, iv] – t.p., colophon] [v], vi – contents, [vii, viii] – h.t. / blank, [ix] – list of etchings on steel, [x] – list of wood-cuts, [2] – blank, frontis. engraves portrait of G. Cruikshank; [1] 2-300 [2] – blanks, bfl; 22 full-page steel engravings (three not by Cruikshank) and 78 woodcuts. As per A. M. Cohn: i-ii+i-viii+1-2+1-300. Binding: 24 x 14 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 green, then red cloth, this binding by Kelly and Sons (Packer, Maurice. Bookbinders of Victorian London. London: British Library, 1991 page 84). A. M. Cohn № 190, p. 65-66. Motto translation: (About all things and something more besides).
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Brown bowl with golden-brown streaks on a black ground, mouth with a curved profile. A drop of glaze hanging in support. Base unglazed. In a wooden box. China, the Song dynasty [宋朝] (960 – 1279). Diameter: 12.5 cm; Height: 7 cm.
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Vol. 1: A | BIBLIOGRAPHICAL | Antiquarian and Picturesque | TOUR | IN THE | NORTHERN COUNTIES OF ENGLAND | AND IN | SCOTLAND. | BY THE REVEREND | THOMAS FROGNALL DIBDIN, D.D. | CHAPLAIN IN ORDINARY TO HER MAJESTY. | VOL. I. |{device} motto: DEI OMNIA PLENA | LONDON: | PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR BY C. RICHARDS, ST. MARTIN’S LANE : | AND SOLD BY JAMES BOHN, 12 KING WILLIAM STREET, STRAND, LONDON : | LAING AND FORBES, EDINBURGH : JOHN SMITH AND SON, | GLASGOW : AND E. CHARNLEY, NEWCASTLE. | MDCCCXXXVIII.|| Pagination: ffl, frontispiece by W. Douglas after T. M. Richardson, [i-ii] t.p. / blank; [iii-iv] - dedication to Frances Mary Richardson Currer (British, 1785 – 1861) / blank, [v] vi-xv – preface, [i] ii-xxx – supplement & index, [2] – corrections / colophon, [2] list of plates, [2] – contents, [1] 2-436, bfl; 11 plates extraneous to collation (incl. frontis.), lacking one plate (facing p. 213. “Thos. Bridges…”), in-text woodcut vignettes, head- and tailpieces. Collation: 8vo; π8 a-b8 [c2] B-Z8 2A-2E8 2F2. Vol. 2: Similar title but "VOL. II." Pagination: ffl, frontispiece portrait of Hugh Stewart, Aged 84 by Robert Bell after Alison (nothing known); [2] – t.p. / blank, [2] – contents / cont., [437-8] f.t. / blank [439] 440-1090, bfl; 453/4 misprinted 449/50; lacking list of subscribers. Collation: 8vo; π2 [2F3-2F6] 2G-2Z8 3A-3Z8. Binding: By J. Leighton, Brewer Street. Later half dark brown morocco over marbled boards, raised bands with gilt fillets, gilt titling and fillets in compartments, all edges gilt, marbled endpapers. Edition: 1st edition of Dibdin’s last major work and the only edition of this title. Size: 24.5 x 15.5 cm Provenance: Lord Ronald Gower (British, 1845 – 1916); Frank Hird (British, 1873 – 1937). Catalogue raisonné: Jackson 89; Windle & Pippin A65, pp. 179–188 [LIB-2669.2021]. Artists: Abraham, [I.] Frederic Henry (British, 1790 – 1845) Carmichael, James John Wilson (British, 1800 – 1868) Geikie, Walter (British, 1795 – 1837) Harraden, Richard Bankes (British, 1778 – 1862) Hill, David Octavius (British, 1802 –1870) McLea, John Watson (British, fl.1832-1861) Nixon, James Henry (British, b. c. 1808) Reynolds, Sir Joshua (British, 1723 – 1792) Richardson, Thomas Miles (British, 1784 – 1848) Scott, J. (British, fl. 19th c.) Wilkinson, T. M. (British, fl. 19th c.) Engravers: Aikman, Alison [spouse of George Aikman?] (British, 1788 – 1865) Bell, Robert Charles (British, 1806 – 1872) Byfield, Mary (British, 1794/5 – 1871) Douglas, William (British, 1780 – 1832) Harraden, F. (British, fl. 1838) Horsburgh, John (British, 1791 –1869) Johnstone, John (British, fl. 1835 – ) Leith & Smith, Lithogrs (Edinburgh) Lizars, William Home (British, 1788 – 1859) Miller, William (British, 1796 – 1882) Penny, William (British, fl. 19th c.) Prior, Thomas Abiel (British, 1809 – 1886) Robinson, H. (British, fl. 19th c.) Smith, Charles John (British, 1803 – 1838) Thomson, James (British, 1788 – 1850)
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Hardcover, 23.5 x 23.5 cm, publisher's navy cloth, gilt-stamped lettering to spine, pictorial DJ; pp.: [1-6] 7-143 [144 blank].
Japanese woodblock prints of the Edo period (1615-1868) were the products of a highly commercialised and competitive publishing industry. Their content was inspired by the vibrant popular culture that flourished in Edo (Tokyo). At any given time scores of publishers competed for the services of the leading artists of the day. Publishers and artists displayed tremendous ingenuity in finding ways to sustain demand for prints and to circumvent the restrictions placed on the industry through government censorship. Although Japanese prints have long been appreciated in the West for their graphic qualities, their content has not always been fully understood. This book draws on recent scholarship that makes possible a more subtle appreciation of the imagery encountered in the prints and how they would have been read when first made. Through stunning new photography of both well-known and rarely published works in the collection of the British Museum, including many recent acquisitions, the author explores how and why such prints were made, providing a fascinating introduction to a much-loved but little-understood art form.
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Title: The amorous drawings | of the | Marquis von Bayros | Part I | THE CYTHERA PRESS | NEW YORK Pagination: [1-3] 4-238 [2], 292 illustrations within pagination. Content: Preface by Wilhelm M. Busch, biography of Von Bayros by Johann Pilz, two essays by Von Bayros; 292 illustrations by Marquis Franz von Bayros; Part I and II in one volume. Exterior: 33 x 26 cm, publisher's black cloth with white lettering and fac-simile drawing of von Bayros to cover, white lettering to spine, similarly designed DJ. The original Cythera Press hardcover edition of 1968.
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Title page (in Gothic script): Peter Schlemihl's | wundersame Geschichte | mitgetheilt | von | Adelbert von Chamisso. | {vignette} | Nach des Dichters Tode neu herausgegeben | von Julius Eduard Hitzig. | Stereotypausgabe mit Holzschnitten. | Nürnberg, | Johann Leonhard Schrag. || Pagination: [i-iii] iv-xvi, [1] 2-82 [2], 15 woodcut vignettes by Unzelmann after Menzel. Collation: 8vo; π8 1-58 62. Binding: 21.5 x 13.5 cm, blind olive wrappers. Year of publication inferred from the foreword. This is the first posthumous edition of Chamisso's novel. Personae: Chamisso, Adelbert von (German, 1781 – 1838). — Author of the text. Hitzig, Julius Eduard [Itzig, Isaac Elias] (German-Jewish, 1780 – 1849). — Author of the foreword. Menzel, Adolph Friedrich Erdmann von (German, 1815 – 1905). — Artist of the vignettes. Unzelmann, Friedrich Ludwig (German, 1797 – 1854). — Engraver of the woodcuts. Schrag, Johann Leonhard (Germany, 1783 – 1858). — Publisher.
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Round plate with a blue and white design of blossoming bamboo and chrysanthemums in the centre with a border of lattice and floral sprays. Diameter: 34 cm, Haight: 5.5 cm.
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Title: THE IDEALS OF THE EAST | WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE | TO THE ART OF JAPAN | BY KAKASU OKAKURA | LONDON | JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET | 1903 || Collation: 8vo; ffl, [2] (t.p., prep. note) [a]4 b4, A-P8 Q4. Pagination: ffl, [I, ii] – h.t. / blank, [iii, iv] – t.p. / blank, [v, vi] – preparatory note / blank, vii-xxii, [1] 2-244, [1] 2-4 (Works for art lovers). Binding: Burgundy cloth, red flowers and lettering to cover, gilt lettering to spine. Size: 19.5 x 13 cm Contributors: Author: Okakura Kakuzō [岡倉 覚三] (1863 – 1913). Publisher: Murray, Sir John IV (1851–1928); John Murray (publishing house). Printer: Ballantyne, Hanson & Co., Edinburgh, London.