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Iron tsuba of round form decorated with eight roundels – circular emblems of flowers and/or family crests (mon) made of cast brass, pierced and chiseled in kebori, and with flat brass inlay (hira-zōgan) of vines or leaves all over the plate. Both hitsu-ana trimmed in brass. Nakago-ana of rectangular form, with copper sekigane. Four positive openwork (ji-sukashi) roundels at 12, 3, 6, and 9 o'clock; and four negative openwork (in-sukashi) roundels with cherry blossom, bellflower, and two variations on suhama theme. Yoshirō school (Kaga-Yoshirō). The Momoyama or early Edo period, late 16th to early 17th century. Size: diameter 81.4 mm, thickness 4.7 mmat seppa-dai, 4.0 mm at rim. Christie's lot description: AN IRON TSUBA; EDO PERIOD (17TH CENTURY). THE DOLPHYN COLLECTION OF SAMURAI ART. The round iron tsuba pierced with roundels of various floral motifs interspersed among scrolling foliage, all inlaid with brass. 8.1 cm. high. Provenance: Pabst Collection (no. 338). -
Iron tsuba of round form with design of slanting rays of light (shakoh) or clock gear (tokei) in openwork (sukashi). Commonly considered a Christian / Jesuit motif. Copper sekigane. According to seller, Owari School. Haynes writes that most tsuba of this design are Owari (Tsuba. Aesthetic Study). Unsigned. Edo period. According to F. Geyer, diamond-shaped vertical posts and long rays suggest that this tsuba was probably made between 1605 and 1630.Size: 76.9 x 76.0 x 5.4 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. -
Ippitsusai Bunchō (一筆斎文調); lived 1725-1794; flourished 1755–1790. Size: Chuban; 26 x 20 cm The design presents a young woman reading a scroll while arranging her hear, and a young man with a rowing rod watching over her shoulder; the pair is standing on a giant shrimp that ferries them over a stream. The third passenger is a literate octopus, who's is attentively exploring the text of a scroll. This allusion comes to mind promptly: “Bodhidharma crossing the Yangzi River on a reed” (Royō Daruma).
Image from Asian Art Museum in San Francisco:
Masanobu’s mitate wittily evokes an episode known as “Bodhidharma crossing the Yangzi River on a reed” (Royō Daruma). According to legend, the river crossing occurred en route to the Shaolin monastery, where Bodhidharma sat facing a wall for nine years without speaking. While serious interpretations abound in Chinese and Japanese paintings, popular prints of the Edo period often playfully substituted a beautiful woman for the monk. This parodic version was reportedly invented in response to a courtesan’s comment that she was more enlightened than Bodhidharma because she had spent ten years sitting, on display in a brothel.
An interesting article about this particular design is published at UKIYO-E.ORG BLOG. Though, the design is erroneously attributed to Harunobu. We see that Bunchō was quite fascinated by the idea of crossing a water obstacle with the help of an unsuitable means of transportation:
Female Daruma Riding a Mushroom. MFA # 21.4758.
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Tsuba of chrysanthemoid form (kikka-gata) with yamagane core and woven copper wire pattern. Copper sekigane. Shingen school. Height: 70.2 mm; Width 67.2 mm; Thickness at seppa-dai: 3.4-3.6 mm, overall 7.3 mm. Weight 82.7 g Inscription on the wooden box reads: "Muromachi period Mumei Zōgan Shingen Tsuba" Muromachi period, 16th century. Age attribution is based on the fact that the core is made of yamagane; later copies of Edo period are usually made of iron. This small and light tsuba was likely mounted on a combat sword, while larger and much heavier woven wire Shingen tsuba of Edo period were of purely decorative purpose. http://varshavskycollection.com/shingen-tsuba/ -
Iron tsuba of mokko form decorated with brass flat inlay (hira-zōgan) all over on both sits and going over the rounded rim. Black patina, well-forged iron. Hitsu-ana outlined with brass inlay. Former owner's catalogue number in red paint reads 25-17-61. Gary D. Murtha provides detailed account of this type of tsuba in Japanese Sword Guards. Onin-Heianjo-Yoshiro book on pages 118-122. He calls this type of tsuba "Heianjo Mogusa Tsuba": "The term mogusa is commonly used for an inlay design that represents an aquatic weed, similar to a duck weed or sago plant, which is known to quickly invade and overtake bodies of water. [...] Perhaps the visual image has some cross-over meaning for samurai in that, like the plant, a small aggressive samurai force could conquer a larger foe/area." I tried to find any reference to "mogusa" in literature, - to no avail. Neither on the vastness of internet, including Wikipedia... I did find the "duckweed" (one word), but visually it has nothing to do with the pattern on tsuba. "Sago plant" probably stands for 'Sago palm", and there is some very distant reminiscence in the construction of the sago palm leaf and the said design of inlay, but I would not go that far. In the old catalogues, such as Naunton and Hawkshaw collections, this pattern as called "sea weed" and/or "conventional fir". I will stick to these descriptions, tested by the time, and leave the enigmatic "mogusa" alone. Obviously, this type of tsuba has transformed into Yoshirō tsuba, both in Kaga province and Bizen province. Momoyama period (ca. 1660). Dimensions: 74.5 x 73.7 x 4.4 mm. -
Thin iron tsuba of round form pierced with six three-leaf wood sorrels (katabami) in ko-sukashi and inlaid with brass decoration along the rim. Kozuka-hitsu-ana probably cut at a later date.
Late Muromachi or Momoyama period, 16th century. Dimensions: 78.0 x 77.7 x 2.5 mm. -
Iron tsuba of mokkō form (mokkōgata) pierced (sukashi) and inlaid with precast dark brass inlay (taka-zōgan) with somewhat abstract/geometrical design that can be liberally described as pines, mist, and snow.
Momoyama or early Edo period. End of the 16th - beginning of the 17th century. Heianjō school. Unsigned. Dimensions: 86.8 x 82.9 x 4.5 mm. -
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Utagawa Kunisada (Japanese: 歌川 国貞; also known as Utagawa Toyokuni III (三代歌川豊国); 1786 – 12 January 1865).A young woman reading a book in the light of a lamp. Series: Arigataki miyo no kage-e (Shadow Pictures of an Auspicious Age). There are five known prints, half-length portraits of beauties, in this series, designed by Kunisada in ca. 1844. Another print from the series in this collection: SVJP-0306.2020: A young woman adjusting her hairpins in the light of a paper lantern.
Signed: Kōchōrō Toyokuni ga (香蝶楼豊国画).
Publisher: Maruya Kiyojiro.
Size: Vertical Ōban (37.5 x 25.4 cm). -
Title page: Text engraved within a vignette with two naked female torses in garlands: Plãs et profilz | des principales villes de | la prouince de L'ISLE DE | FRANCE, auec la carte gene~ | rale & les particulieres de chaf~ | cun gouuernement d'icelles. Below handwritten pencil inscription by a previous owner: "par ... Tassin ... 1634". Size: 17.6 x 23.7 cm, Binding: Italian style, green half-vellum, burgundy morocco title label with vertical gilt lettering to spine, peacock marbled boards. Pagination: Two blank flyleaves in the front and two in the back; 18 numbered engraved plates, including:- Title page
- Table of Contents
- Normandie
- Environs de Paris
- Folding map of Paris – a simplified copy of Mathieu Merian's 1615 perspective plan, with minor updates, notably on the current housing estate of Ile Saint-Louis.
- Paris
- Gouvernment de Soissons
- Soissons
- Gouvernment de Beauvais
- Beauvais
- Gouvernment de Compiègne
- Compiègne
- Gouvernment de Noyon
- Noyon
- Gouvernment de Coussi
- Coussi
- Gouvernment de Senlis
- Senlis
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An album of the "Le Bon-Bock" dinners for the year 1884. Author, designer and publisher – Emile Bellot (French, 1831 – 1886), a Parisian artist and engraver. "Le Bon-Bock" was a monthly dinner of artists and men of letters, who gathered in Paris for good food, good company, and artistic performances, from 1875 to at least 1925. The story behind these gatherings as told by Emile Bellot, the founder, is this:In February 1875, Pierre Cottin1 came to me and said: 'I discovered a poet and tragedian of immense talent and who interprets the poems of the Great Victor Hugo in an astonishing way. Monsieur Gambini. I promised him that I would make it heard by an audience of artists and men of letters. I am counting on you who have many connections to keep my promise to him'. I gathered about 25 of my friends and acquaintances in a picnic dinner which took place at a restaurant 'Krauteimer' on the rue Rochechouart in Montmartre. They heard from Mr Gambini first, then my friends Étienne Carjat2, J. Gros3, Adrien Dézamy4, etc. performed. These gentlemen completed the evening so brilliantly that it was unanimously decided that we would start a similar dinner every month. Poets, musicians, men of letters, singers would be invited to this dinner. I was in charge of the organization of this little party and as it was the dream of my life to bring together old comrades, I was careful not to refuse and I pursued this good idea. Cottin and René Tener5 were kind enough to help me in this joyous task and especially my old friend Carjat. The following March began our 1st monthly dinner.
The name "Le Bon-Bock" means "The Good Bock", whilst Bock is a kind of beer, a dark, malty, lightly hopped ale. The dinner was named "Le Bon-Bock" in honour of the Éduard Manet painting (1873), a famous portrait of Emile Bellot, called "Le Bon-Bock".
The invitations to the dinner were also produced by the artists and looked like this one by Alexandre Ferdinandus (October 3, 1883).
Besides this sketch of the Parisian social and artistic life at the end of the 19th century, the provenance of the album in our collection generates additional interest. The ink stamp to the front flyleaf reads: "Docteur Henry Uzan, 29 Avenue Perrichont, Paris XVI".
Doctor Henry Uzan was Jewish. He was arrested by the Pétain police on October 1, 1941, and interned in Drancy. With the few means at his disposal, he undertook to treat the sick whom he then saw leaving, week after week, towards their terrible destiny in the extermination camps. In October 1943 doctor Uzan was deported to the island of Alderney. After the Normandy Landing of June 6, 1944, Nazis evacuated the island detainees and transfer them to the Neuengamme camp, via northern France and Belgium. During the transfer, doctor Uzan managed to escape from the train on the night of September 3 to 4 around Dixmude in Flanders. He was taken in by the Belgian Resistance, which he joined before being repatriated to France.
In France, he continued working as a physician and was one of the founders of Association des internés et déportés politiques (AIDP). In 1945, together with his friends, the doctor designed the symbol for the Fédération nationale des déportés et internés résistants et patriotes:
The story behind the number on the emblem (178284) is fascinating but it is out of the scope of this material.
1. Pierre Cottin (French, 1823 – c. 1887) – Engraver, mezzotinter, genre and landscape painter; born in Chappelle-Saint-Denis (near Paris), a pupil of Jazet. Exhibited at the Salon from 1845, also in London from 1876 to 1879.↩ 2. Étienne Carjat (French, 1828 – 1906) – Journalist, caricaturist and photographer. ↩ 3. Jean Baptiste Louis Gros (French, 1793 – 1870) – Painter. ↩ 4. Adrien Dézamy (French, 1844 – 1891) – Writer, poet, general secretary of the Théâtre des Bouffes in Paris. ↩ 5. Rene Tener (French, 1846 – 1925) – Painter. ↩ Sources:Auguste Lepage. Les dîners artistiques et littéraires de Paris / Bibliothèque des Deux mondes (2e éd.) – Paris: Frinzine, Klein et Cie., 1884. [Accession № LIB-2606.2021 in this collection]
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Title: A Bibliography of Bookbinding | by | SARAH T. PRIDEAUX | […] | London: | JAMES BAIN, 1 Haymarket. | 1892 || Pagination: ffl, [2] – front orig. wrapper, [2] t.p. / blank, [1] 2-23 [24] [2] back orig. wrapper. Binding: User’s quarter buckram and cardboard binding with gilt 686.P.6 number to front cover, 686 P to front wrapper, ink inscription T. Garnett (possibly Garnett & Co, Printers of Manchester Guardian) to t.p., blue ink stamp of Manchester P. F. libraries, pencilled 686 P6 to t.p. verso. To front pastedown an armorial bookplate of the Manchester public free libraries. and pasted Class No. R686 P6. Blueish original wrappers preserved. -
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. -
Title: MEMOIRS OF M. THIERS | 1870—1873 | Translated by | F. M. ATKINSON | {publisher’s device} | LONDON: GEORGE ALLEN & UNWIN LTD. | RUSKIN HOUSE 40 MUSEUM STREET, W.C. Pagination: [6] 7-384. Collation: 8vo; [1]-248. Size: 23 x 15 cm Binding: Blue cloth, top and bottom ruled in blind, gilt lettering to front cover and spine. Original: Adolphe Thiers. Notes et souvenirs de M. Thiers, 1870-1873: voyage diplomatique, proposition d'un armistice, préliminaires de la paix, présidence de la République. — Paris : [s.n.], 1901. — 465 p. The preface and editing signed "F. D." [Félicie Dosne]. Félicie Dosne (French, 1823 – 1906) was Thiers's sister-in-law. -
Title (black and red): ПЕСНЬ | О КРЕСТОВОМ | ПОХОДЕ ПРОТИВ | АЛЬБИГОЙЦЕВ | {device} | Издание подготовили | И.О. БЕЛАВИН, Е.В. МОРОЗОВА | Научно-издательский центр | «Ладомир» | «Наука» | Москва || Frontispiece (black and red): LA CHANSON DE | LA CROISADE | ALBIGEOISE | {device} || Pagination : [1-9] 10-437 [3] ; 79 illustr. on 20 leaves of colour plates between pp. 224/225, inset: folding double-sided map of the Albigensian Crusade43 x 64 cm; print run 2,000 copies. Binding: serial green buckram blind-stamped with a scroll adorned with gold lettering to board and spine. Отв. ред. М. Л. Андреев. Ред. изд-ва Л. А. Сифурова. -
![Charles Virmaitre. Paris qui s'efface. — Paris: Albert Savine, 1887. — 2me édition. — pp.: [2 blanks] [2 hf-t, advert.] [t.p., blank] [2 dedicat., blank] [1, 2 - chap.1 cont., blank] [2-3] 4-314 [2 blanks].](https://varshavskycollection.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/LIB-2453.2020-a-1-500x771.jpeg)
Title page: CHARLES VIRMAITRE | PARIS | qui s'efface | {publisher’s device} | PARIS | NOUVELLE LIBRAIRIE PARISIENNE | ALBERT SAVINE, ÉDITEUR | 18, RUE DROUOT, 18 | 1887 | Tous droits réservés. || Collation: Front pictorial wrapper, ffl, π3 1-1712 181, bfl, back wrapper w/publ. advert. Pagination: [6] [1-3] 4-314. -
Pictorial title by von Bayros: Die | Bohème. | Scenen aus dem Pariser | Künstlerleben | von | Henri Murger | Leipzig im | InselVerlag | 1906. | F. Bayros || Pagination: [2] – pictorial frontispiece, [2] – pictorial t.p., 1-280 [2] – inhalt, [2] – colophon, [2] – blank, + 4 plates drawn by Franz von Bayros and reproduced as photogravure, with guards. Binding: 23.5 x 15.5 cm, cream parchment, raised bands, gilt-lettered orange morocco label to spine; text printed on laid paper (Linden Paper watermark), untrimmed, illustrations on wove paper as photogravure. Bookplate: “Ex libris Walter Schniewind” engraved by C. L. Becker. Original title: Henry Murger. Scenes De La Vie De Boheme. — Paris: Michel Lévy frères, 1851. Tirage: 50 copies on laid paper, of which this is № 14 (per Sarkowski: 50 numerierte Ex. auf Bütten. Pergament mit Goldschnitt). Author: Murger, Henri [Murger, Louis-Henri, Henry] (French, 1822 – 1861). Translator: Grove, Frederick Philip [Greve, Felix Paul] (German-Canadian, 1879 – 1948). Illustrator: Bayros, Franz von (Austrian, 1866 – 1924). Printer: Drugulin, Wilhelm Eduard (German, 1822 – 1879); Offizin W. Drugulin (Leipzig). Provenance: Schniewind, Walter (German, 1870 – 1927). Catalogue raisonné: Heinz Sarkowski (1999): № 1175 VA, p. 195; Bayros Zeichnungen, pp. 43-46. -
Title: THE BOHEMIANS | OF | THE LATIN QUARTER. | (SCÈNES DE LA VIE DE BOHÊME.) | By HENRI MURGER. | ILLUSTRATED WITH 10 ETCHINGS FROM DESIGNS BY MONTADER. |{publisher’s device}| LONDON: | VIZETELLY & CO., 16, HENRIETTA STREET, | COVENT GARDEN. | 1888. || Pagination: [i-v] vi-xxxiv, [1] 2-317 [318 blank]; collation: 8vo, π1 (h.t.), [a]-b8, B-U8 X7 + 10 etchings by Charles Courtry after Alfred Montader (incl. frontispiece and portrait of Henri Murger). Binding: 23 x 14.5 cm, olive cloth, black lettering to cover and gilt lettering to spine. Contributors: Murger, Henri [Henry] (French, 1822 – 1861) – original text (French). Montader, Pierre Marie Alfred (French, fl. c. 1881 – 1925) – artist. Courtry, Charles Jean Louis (French, 1846 – 1897) – engraver. Vizetelly, Henry Richard (British, 1820 – 1894) – publisher.
