Utagawa KUNIYASU (1794-1832)

Click here to view image full size. Shows a beauty after a bath. The poem above compares her to the young green shoots of the willow tree in spring. Published by Omiya Heihachi, c. 1820. Very good impression, colour…
Dealing in fine Japanese prints, paintings and books since 1968
Dealing in fine Japanese prints, paintings and books since 1968

Click here to view image full size. Shows a beauty after a bath. The poem above compares her to the young green shoots of the willow tree in spring. Published by Omiya Heihachi, c. 1820. Very good impression, colour…

Click here to view image full size. An original hanshita-e (preparatory drawing) for a triptych showing, from the left, the actor Bando Takesaburo I as Nagoya Sanza, Ichimura Uzaemon XIII as the Shinzo (“courtesan’s apprentice”), and Nakamura Fukusuke I as…

Click here to view image full size. A fine original painting in muted tones on silk, 43.75 x 16.5 in; 111.2 x 41.9 cms. Shows a vengeful female ghost (yurei) emanating from a ball of fire. She wears a plain…

Click here to view image full size. An original painting showing a high-ranking samurai household at leisure. Moroshige was the senior pupil of Hishikawa Moronobu, and, it is said, was the father of Furuyama Moromasa. Sumi and full colour with…

Click here to view image full size. A large and fine original painting by an artist whom I am unable to find in the literature; possibly a pseudonym. Shows a high-ranking courtesan wearing a sumptuous kimono under cherry blossom. Full…

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…

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…

Click here to view image full size. Two beauties in front of a mirror, Ada ni torikumite, “Grudge Match” from a set Ukiyo shiju hatte, “Forty-eight Habits of the Floating World.” This was a popular title for sets of prints…

Click here to view image full size. An original painting, sumi with light touches of pink on paper. Image size 10.4 x 14.2 in; 26 x 36 cms. Shows a hilly landscape with a small figure crossing a bridge bottom…

Click here to view image full size. A concertina painting album, full colour on paper, 11 x 6.5 in; 28 x 16.5 cms folding out to 11 x 13 in; 28 x 33 cms. Twenty six paintings in the Shijo…

Click here to view image full size. Kozuke, Harunasan setchu, “Kozuke [Province], Mount Haruna Under Snow.” From a set of 69 prints [Dai Nihon] Rokujuyoshi meisho zue, “Famous Places in the Sixty-odd Provinces [of Japan]” published by Koshihei between 1853…

Click here to view image full size. An okubi-e of the onnagata actor Bando Mitsugoro V in the role of Shindo Saemon’s daughter Yushide. From a set of large heads of actors past and present which were to be the…

Click here to view image full size. An original painting, full colour on paper, 13 x 19 in; 33 x 48.3 cms. Shows a reclining beauty playing a shamisen. The subtle outline of her body can be seen through her…

Click here to view image full size. A large original drawing, sumi on thin paper, 12 x 20.5 in; 30.5 x 52 cms. Shows a battle between two armies. Provenance: Ex collection Dr. Julius Kurth (1870-1949), an eminent scholar who…

Click here to view image full size. A large original drawing, sumi on thin paper, 15 x 20 in; 38 x 51 cms. Shows a large group of actors in front of a theatre. Most likely two sheets for an…

Click here to view image full size. Presumably the last sheet of a triptych (I cannot locate the complete design at the moment). Shows three geisha representing three of the Seven Lucky Gods: Benzaiten, Fukurokuji, Ebisu. The other sheets would…

Click here to view image full size. An original painting, full colour on dark silk, 33.5 x 11.5 in; 85 x 29 cms. Shows a Chinese beauty – possibly Yang Guikei – collecting medicinal leaves from a Japanese spice bush.…

Click here to view image full size. A large original painting , full colour with gold on silk, image size 50.5 x 19.75 in; 128.25 x 50 cms. Shows Shoki, the Demon Quellor, with sword drawn watching an oni escaping…

Click here to view image full size. A large koban print, 8.75 x 6 in; 22.25 x 15.25 cms, showing a samurai with two attendants. Aki, “Autumn” from a set of the four seasons, Shiki. A rare artist and most…

Click here to view image full size. The Dragon’s Maw Mountain, Bizen Province, Bizen tatsu-no-kuchiyama from an unfinished set Shokoku meisho hyakkei, “One Hundred Views of Famous Places in the Provinces” published by Uoya Eikichi between 1859 and 1861 (this…

Click here to view image full size. A rare early Kuniyoshi triptych, Minamoto no Yorimitsu no Shitenno tsuchigumo taiji no dzu, showing Minamoto no Yorimitsu (Raiko) and his loyal retainers: Watanabe no Tsuna, Usui no Sadamitsu, Sakata no Kintoki and…

Click here to view image full size. An original painting, sumi and colour on silk, 10.5 x 8.75 in; 26.7 x 22.2 cms. A beauty after a bath. Signed Toyokuni ga with his kakihan. In very good condition. Status:…

Click here to view image full size. An original painting, full colour with gold outline to robe, 32 x 10.75 in; 81.3 x 27.3 cms, on silk. Shows a beauty erotically biting on her hand towel (tenugui) while on the…

Click here to view image full size. An original painting album, 11 x 13 in; 28 x 33 cms (folded out). Chinzan, a Nanga painter, was Watanabe Kazan’s best pupil. The sketchbook has 25 extremely abbreviated sketches using minimal brushstrokes.…

Click here to view image full size. The actor Matsumoto Koshiro II, arms crossed, in a defiant stance. Shunko had a minor stroke at the age of 45 and subsequently had to work with his left hand using the go…

Click here to view image full size. The actor Seki Sanjuro III as Saruta Hiko in the play Yoinakatomi Kiyome no mikagura staged at the Ichimura-za Theatre 8 From a set of at least 22 prints published by Gusokuya Kahei,…

Click here to view image full size. An original fan painting, 6.5 x 17.5 in; 16.5 x 44.5 cms. Sumi and colour on treated paper. Shows a kappa appearing from the Sumidagawa and terrifying a man who runs for his…

Click here to view image full size. An original painting, full colour on paper, 14.5 x 21 in; 35.5 x 53.5 cms. The founder of the Kawamata School. (A pupil was Kawamata Tsunemasa.) Little is known of his life and…

Click here to view image full size. An original fan painting, sumi on treated paper, 17 x 6.25 in; 43 x 16 cms. Shows two needlefish (family Belonidae).Rosetsu is considered one of the most important artists of the late Edo…

Click here to view image full size. An important collection of original drawings by Kyosai laid into two accordion albums, opening horizontally, 13.5 x 10 inches. Approx 157 drawings ( one signed and sealed; one signed and dated [ 6th…