Utagawa KUNIYOSHI (1797-1861)

Click here to view image full size. A poem by the celebrated poet and monk Noin-hoshi from the series Hyakunin isshu no uchi, “One Hundred Poems for One Hundred Poets” which was compiled in 1235 by Fujiwara Teika (1162-1241). A group of travellers are caught in a torrential downpour. One of the best designs in the set published by Ebisuya Shoshichi, Ebine, 1840-42. Only 58 of the 100 are known. Various translations of the poem exist, here is one: The maples and leaves Of Mount Mimura – Making the Tatsuta River A fine brocade Very fine impression. Fine colour. Slight nibbling on one margin, otherwise fine condition. Signed Ichiyusai Kuniyoshi ga.   Status: Available Price:  £2,200  

TORII School (c. late 1750’s)

Click here to view image full size. An original painting, full colour on paper with gold additions, image size 30 x 10 in; 76 x 25.5 cms. Shows a beauty holding up a puppet of the actor Bando Hikosaburo II. Painted c. late 1750s and possibly by Torii Kiyomitsu. In good condition with seal Torii.     Status: Available Price:  £2,200     Click here to view image full size.

Keisai EISEN (1790-1848)

Click here to view image full size. A carp swimming among water-weed. The moon’s reflection in the blue water. There are various editions of this design: without the moon’s reflection; with and without the censor seal; with and without publisher’s seal; with and without currents in the water. Published by Ezakiya, c. 1843-6. Rare.   Fine impression and colour. Faint vertical folds and two areas of sumi, otherwise very good condition. Signed Keisai with seals Ippitsuan and Keisai.   Status: Available Price:  £1,500  

Suzuki HARUNOBU (1724-1770)

Click here to view image full size. Two volumes complete: Ehon haru no nishiki, “Picture Book: The Brocades of Spring.” Vol. 1: 1 page preface dated Kanoto U (1770); single page and 8 double page colour prints. Vol. 2: 1 single page and 8 double page colour prints. 1 page colophon with date, publisher, block-cutter and artist as Suzuki Harunobu with his seal. 2 pages publisher’s announcements. Published by Yamazaki Kimbe, Edo. This is the first edition, Meiwa 8 (1771). Other copies are in the MFA, Boston, acc. no. 1997.477.1-2 and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, acc. no. 1970-46-1. Provenance: Ex collections H.M.Kaempfer and Hayashi (their seals on the first page of each volume). Original covers and title slips. Covers worn. Some soil and edge restoration.   Very good impressions with generally very good colour. Rare in the first edition.   Status: Available Price:  £13,000     Click here to view image full size. Click here to view image full size. Click here to view image full size. Click here to view image full size.

Utagawa YOSHIHARU (1828-1888)

Click here to view image full size. Shows Hakujisso Hakusho (Chin. Bai Sheng) subduing a giant bird with a bamboo pole. From a set Suikoden goketsu kagami, “Mirror of Heroes of the Suikoden” published by Yamaguchiya Tobei, 1856. This is the first edition with gradation on the bird’s beak and elsewhere and the signature cartouche printed in red. Later editions lack these refinements.   Very fine impression. Fine colour. Slightly trimmed, otherwise very good condition. Signed Ichibaisai Yoshiharu ga.   Status: Available Price:  £1,280  

Kawanabe KYOSAI (1831-1889)

Click here to view image full size. A large original painting, full colour on silk, image size 48 x 21.75 in; 122 x 55.25 cms. A draughtsman of great dexterity with a wild, often bizzare , imagination. Loved sake, sometimes painting under its influence. At an early stage studied under Kuniyoshi, then Maemura Towa and later Kano Chinshin before becoming an independent painter at 27. Adept at highly finshed paintings but also produced a large corpus of spontaneous paintings. Shows a standing courtesan with her kamuro. An homage to Hokusai whom he obviously admired. Highly finished in places but also incorporating quirky elements of Hokusai’s style. Signed Hokusai hitsu-i (“Imitating Hokusai’s brush”) Shojo Kyosai. In very good condition with old double box with an untranslatable annotation on inside of lid comparing him to Hokusai. An important new discovery.    Status: Available Price:  £12,500    Click here to view image full size. Click here to view image full size.

Kawanabe KYOSAI (1831-1889)

Click here to view image full size. A fine original Kyosai painting, full colour on silk, 47.5 x 16.5 in; 121 x 42 cms. Shows Emma, the King of Hell, walking with and holding an umbrella above a courtesan while a ghoulish oni looks on wearing a costume of gunnera leaves. Emma-O is the Japanese Buddhist version of Yama, the Hindu god of death. It was he who assigned people after death to one of the states of reincarnation. He is shown with the headdress, robes and holding the staff of a Chinese judge. The preparatory drawing for this painting is illustrated in Kawanabe Kyosai, In Honour of 100TH Anniversary of His Death, published by Ukiyoe Ota Kinen Bijutsuken, 1989, no. 61, p. 60. Kyosai was a draughtsman of great dexterity with a wild, often bizarre, imagination. Loved sake, sometimes painting under its influence. At an early stage studied under Kuniyoshi, then Maemura Towa and later Kano Chinshin before becoming an independent painter at 27. Adept at highly finished paintings but also produced a large corpus of spontaneous paintings.   In very good condition. Signed Seisai Kyosai with Kyosai seal.   Status: Available Price:  £6,800   Click here to view image full size.

Taiso YOSHITOSHI (1839-1892)

Click here to view image full size. A triptych showing an exploding land-mine throwing bodies and horses into the ether. Taiheiki Masakiyo nansen no zu, “Masakiyo’s Difficult Battle from the Taiheiki.” Figures identified in the print are the 14th century warriors Sato Shukei no Kami Masakiyo and Shimura Masazo Katsutoyo, but by way of avoiding censorship, it is actually showing Kato Kiyomasa (1562-1611) and Kimura Matazo Shigekatsu. It may also be that the design alludes to the rogue samurai in Choshu Province during the summer of 1866. Published by Yamashiroya Jinbei, 1866. One of Yoshitoshi’s great designs. In fact, this is a reworking of a similar composition in a book early in his career, Ehon jitsugokyo dojikyo yoshu of 1853.   Fine impression and colour. Lovely oxidation of the orange pigment. Fine condition. Signed Ikkaisai Yoshitoshi hitsu.   Status: Available Price:  £9,800  

Katsukawa SHUNJO (?-1787)

Click here to view image full size. An hosoban showing the actor Onoe Matsusuke I in a Shibaraku role holding a lantern. (Possibly as Sakata no Kintoki). Shunjo was a pupil of Katsukawa Shunsho. Published c 1780.   Fine impression. Very fine colour and condition. Signed Shunjo ga.   Status: Available Price:  £5,800  

Utagawa KUNISADA (1786-1865)

Click here to view image full size. The actor Ichikawa Danjuro VIII as Arajishi Otokonosuke from a set Mitate sanjurokkasen no uchi, “An Imaginary Thirty-six Poets.” A famous early compilation; in this case the image is inspired by a poem of Mibu no Tadamine. Otokonosuke is usually depicted about to strike his adversary Nikki Danjo -who has turned into a rat – with an iron fan (leaving a red mark on the rat’s/Danjo’s head). Published by Iseya Kanekichi, 1852.   Very fine early impression. Fine colour. Very small binding holes, otherwise very good condition. Signed Toyokuni ga.   Status: Available Price:  £750  

Utagawa HIROSHIGE II (1829-1869)

Click here to view image full size. Nikko Shimofuri no taki, “Shimofuri Waterfall in Nikko” from Shokoku meisho hyakkei, “Hundred Views of Famous Places in the Provinces.” An uncompleted set of 81 prints published by Uoya Eikichi between 1859-1861 (this being 1859).   Fine impression, colour and condition. Signed Hiroshige ga.   Status: Available Price:  £4,200  

Totoya HOKKEI (1780-1850)

Click here to view image full size. An original painting by Hokkei, full colour on silk, 41.5 x 19.25 in; 105.5 x 49 cms. Hokkei was one of the earliest and best pupils of Hokusai. Probably best known for his large output of surimono, but also produced illustrated books and paintings. Shows a beauty fulling cloth beside the Kinuta River, Settsu Province. She gazes at the full moon and a flight of geese. On each side of the stream is Japanese bush clover, associated in Japan with autumnal melancholy and unrequited love.   Signed Hokkei ga with Hokkei seal.   Status: Available Price:  £3,800   Click here to view image full size.

Toyohara KUNICHIKA (1835-1900)

Click here to view image full size. A cho-oban (20 x 6.75 inches) print showing beauties fishing. The top figure has caught a crayfish. Each design interprets a haiku poem in red, top right. A set of 6 prints published by Matsui Eikichi, 1893. Rare.     Fine impression and colour. Slight creasing, otherwise fine condition. Signed Toyohara Kunichika hitsu.     Status: Available Price:  £1,900

Utagawa KUNISADA (1786-1865)

Click here to view image full size. An untitled triptych showing two beauties and a maidservant lighting their way with a lantern and carrying a shamisen box. The beam of light from the lantern illuminates the foreground figures and a leaping dog but leaves the background figures in silhouette. Published by Mikawaya Seimon, c. mid 1820s. A fine design.   Fine impression and colour. Imperceptible fold, otherwise very good condition. Signed Gototei Kunisada ga.   Status: Available Price:  £3,800  

Watanabe SEITEI (SHOTEI) (1851-1918)

Click here to view image full size. A large original painting, full colour on silk. Image size 47.25 x 20 in; 120 x 51 cms. Shows Japanese water iris with water striders. Seitei is best known as a kachoga (“bird and flower”) artist. He was technically brilliant showing realistic detail in a Japanese style but with Western sensibilities absorbed while living in Paris and he was, in fact, the first Nihonga artist to reside in Europe. A winner of many prizes during his life. Also published Seitei kacho gafu, 1890-91; Kacho gafu, 1903; Seitei kacho, 1916.   Signed and sealed Shotei. Very good condition. (This painting makes an excellent pair with the following offering although the mount sizes are slightly different.)   Status: Available Price:  £4,800   Click here to view image full size.

Watanabe SEITEI (SHOTEI) (1851-1918)

Click here to view image full size. A large original painting, full colour on silk. Image size 47.25 x 20 in; 120 x 51 cms. Shows Japanese water iris with a snail. Seitei is best known as a kachoga (“bird and flower”) artist. He was technically brilliant showing realistic detail in a Japanese style but with Western sensibilities absorbed while living in Paris and he was, in fact, the first Nihonga artist to reside in Europe. A winner of many prizes during his life. Also published Seitei kacho gafu, 1890-91; Kacho gafu, 1903; Seitei kacho, 1916.   Signed and sealed Shotei. Very good condition. (This painting makes an excellent pair with the above offering although the mount sizes are slightly different.)   Status: Available Price:  £4,800   Click here to view image full size.

Katsukawa SHUNSHO (1726-1792)

Click here to view image full size. An hosoban showing the actor Nakamura Utaemon I as a samurai in nagabakama and kamishimo ceremonial dress as worn during the Muromachi period (1336-1392). He holds a fan and a globe. Shunsho was the pre-eminent exponent of the hosoban format. Published c 1770.   Fine impression. Unusual blue ground found on a few Shunsho designs. Slight discolouration on verso showing through, otherwise good condition. Signed Shunsho ga with the jar-shaped (tsubo) seal.   Status: Available Price:  £2,500  

Utagawa KUNISADA (1786-1865)

Click here to view image full size. An original Kunisada shunga drawing showing a couple having sexual congress. Most likely a preliminary design for a koban print. Sumi on thin Japanese paper lightly attached at edges to an album leaf, 5.25 x 7.25 in, 13.5 x 18.5 cms. Probably intended to be printed four-to-a-sheet. A very good quality drawing, unlike the many poor unattributed examples available.   Status: Available Price:  £580

Utagawa KUNISADA (1786-1865)

Click here to view image full size. An original Kunisada shunga drawing showing an old man ravishing a young woman. Most likely a preliminary design for a koban print. Sumi on thin Japanese paper lightly attached at edges to an album leaf, 5.25 x 7.25 in, 13.5 x 18.5 cms. Probably intended to be printed four-to-a-sheet. A very good quality drawing, unlike the many poor unattributed examples available.   Status: Available Price:  £380

Utagawa KUNIYOSHI (1797-1861)

Click here to view image full size. Saito Toshimoto nyudo Ryuhon in armour struggling with a Chinese brigand underwater. From the set Taiheiki yeiyuden, “Heroic Stories of the Taiheiki.” A history of the wars of the loyalist Nitta and Kusunoki families against the Ashikaga war-lords during the second quarter of the 14th century. But in fact the subject of this set of fifty prints is the civil war of the late 16th century. Censorship restrictions imposed in the 1840s prevented publishers from illustrating historical subjects from the Tensho era 1573-92 onwards, so the publishers circumvented this by slightly altering the names of the historical figures. Published 1848-9 by Yamamoto-ya Heikichi. Robinson S62.31. One of the best designs in the set.   Fine impression and colour. Very good condition. Signed Ichiyusai Kuniyoshi ga.   Status: Available Price:  £1,450  

Utagawa KUNIYOSHI (1797-1861)

Click here to view image full size. Inuyama Dosetsu, one of the eight dog heroes, enveloped in a conflagration. The heroes represent a Confucian ideal or Buddhist regulation and meet various adversaries in the epic Nanso satomi hakkenden, “Biography of the Eight Dogs” written by Takizawa Bakin between 1814 and 1842. Dosetsu is gifted with magic fire and is seen here with pine sprigs wrapped in paper clenched between his teeth. The subject represents Warabi Station (seen top left) from a set Kisokaido rokujuku tsugi, “Sixty-nine Stations along the Kisokaido.” In fact, a pun on the word warabi which can also mean “straw fire.” The bales can be seen bottom right. Published by Izutsuya Shokichi 1852. The best design from the set. ga.   Fine impression and colour. Lightly backed and very slight vertical fold, otherwise very good condition. Signed Ichiyusai Kuniyoshi   Status: Available Price:  £1,400  

Tsukioka YOSHITOSHI (1839-1892)

Click here to view image full size. Shows the bloodied western army commander, Shima Sakon, having severed the head of Sato Daihachi, which flies through the air at Horagatoge Pass. Sakon lead an army of his Lord Ishida Mitsunari against the future Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu at the battle of Sekigahara in 1600. From the set Ikkai zuihitsu, “Essays by Yoshitoshi.” (Ikkai was an early name of Yoshitoshi’s.) A set of thirteen prints published by Masadaya Heikichi 1872 A fine set.   Extremely fine impression and colour from the first edition. (There were no red seals on the first edition of this design.) Trimmed on black border at left, otherwise fine condition. Signed Ikkaisai Yoshitoshi hitsu.   Status: Available Price:  £1,500  

Utagawa Toyokuni II (1777-1835)

Click here to view image full size. An aizuri-e (blue print) showing the courtesan Utagawa of Tamaya admiring a bowl of carnations. From a set Bijin awase published by Shimizu, c. late 1820s. These blue prints using the imported bero, Berlin blue (what we called Prussian blue), became popular during the 1820s to 1840s as the cost came down.   Fine impression and colour. Trimmed slightly, otherwise very good condition. Signed Toyokuni ga.   Status: Available Price:  £2,200  

Ichiryusai HIROSHIGE (1797-1858)

Click here to view image full size. Fuchu from The Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido published by Marusei, Maruya Seijiro, 1847-52. Called the Reisho Tokaido because of the angular style of Kanji used. Travellers coming and going at the entrance to the station. One of the best designs from the set. Provenance: Ex Hayashi collection with seal below title cartouche.   Fine impression and colour. Very good condition. Signed Hiroshige ga.   Status: Available Price:  £1,900  

Hishikawa MOROSHIGE (Fl. 1684-1704)

Click here to view image full size. An original painting, sumi and full colour on paper, 24 x 12 in; 61 x 30.5 cms. Shows a beautiful youth (a wakashu) dressed as a girl with his attendant servant. These youths (identified as male by wearing a sword) were arbiters of trend-setting kimono design. They are sometimes referred to as the “third gender,” and were sexually ambiguous being objects of desire to both adult men and women. Moroshige was the senior pupil of Hishikawa Moronobu, and, it is said, was the father of Furuyama Moromasa. Some toning of paper and slight loss of pigment, but all commensurate with a painting of this age. Otherwise good condition. Painted around 1700.     Signed Hishikawa Moroshige zu with seal Moroshige. A fine and interesting painting.     Status: Available Price:  £3,800     Click here to view image full size.

Toba HIROMARU (Active 1804-1818)

Click here to view image full size. An original painting showing a parading courtesan. Sumi and colour on paper, 45.5 x 11.25 in; 115.5 x 28.5 cms. A rare artist of the Utagawa school. Probably a pupil of Utagawa Toyohiro. His extant paintings show a considerable talent with particularly attenuated faces. Another example is in the MFA, Boston, acc. no. 11.7369 as well as there having been two sold at auction: Christies, NY 16/9/2003, lot 153 and Bonhams NY 18/3/2015, lot 3010. Some minor marks and creasing, but otherwise good condition. Signed Toba Hiromaru hitsu. Seal unread.     Status: Available Price:  £900     Click here to view image full size.

Utagawa KUNIYOSHI (1797-1861)

Click here to view image full size. An o-tanzaku print, Yugao chapter from the fifty-four chapters of Genji, the Genji Monogatari. A tenth century romance written by Murasaki Shikibu. From a set Buyu nazoraye Genji, “Heroic Comparisons for the Chapters of Genji.” In this case showing Benkei creeping up on Ushiwaka on Gojo Bridge in Kyoto. The story relates how Benkei only needs one more blade to add to the 999 he has wrenched from samurai attempting to cross the bridge in order to fashion an invincible weapon. Benkei loses the fight and becomes Yoshitsune’s loyal retainer. Published by Ibaya Sensaburo, c. 1843.   Fine impression and colour. Very good condition. Signed Cho-o-ro Kuniyoshi ga.   Status: Available Price:  £2,500    

Tsukioka YOSHITOSHI (1839-1892)

Click here to view image full size. A triptych Taira Kiyomori hi no yamai no zu, “The Fever of Taira no Kiyomori.” Kiyomori’s wife, Niidono, dreams that the King of Hell, Ema, is coming for Kiyomori for his crime of burning the Rushana Buddha. His family gather around him and pray but to no avail. He dies on the 4 Shows Niidono and her son beside a convulsed Kiyomori. Behind are visions of hell with Ema and figures who may have been Kiyomori’s victims. Published by Akiyama Buemon, 1883.   Fine impression, colour and condition. A lovely copy of this triptych. Signed Yoshitoshi ga.   Status: Available Price:  £3,900