Dealing in fine Japanese prints, paintings and books since 1968
Dealing in fine Japanese prints, paintings and books since 1968
An amorous couple beside a screen decorated with a large chrysanthemum. From a set of twelve prints Keisei higo, “Secret Words of a Courtesan” published c 1822-25. Although coming under the heading of shunga, each print is an abuna-e design, without any graphic detail. Shows a courtesan with her client. She turns to tie the iwata-sash which indicates she is pregnant. Fine impression. Very fine colour. Fine condition. Status: Available Price: £1,500
A triptych Goketsu kijutsu kurabe, “A competition Among Powerful Magicians.” Published by Masadaya, 1869. A compilation of well known sorcerers, wizards and magicians. From right to left: Iwafuji Tsubone, Senkanja Yoshitora, Orochimaru, Otomo Wakanahime, Madamaru, Sumizu Kanja Yoshitaka, Mori Soiken, Kusunoki Goma-hime. Good impression, colour. Slight toning, otherwise good condition. Signed Ikkaisai Yoshitoshi hitsu, Ikkaisai Yoshitoshi ga, Oju Ikkaisai Yoshitoshi ga. Status: Available Price: £4,700
Click here to view image full size. Click here to view image full size. An original painting, sumi and full colour on silk, 38 x 12.5 in; 96 x 32 cms. Settei produced many illustrated books but after around 1765 turned towards painting beauties, courtesans and geishas. They are of the utmost refinement – the faces and limbs often delineated in red and their costumes embellished with gold. Settei is also known for his elegant shunga. A beauty looks towards a weeping willow. Painted c 1770. In good condition with an elaborately stencilled and embroidered mount. Details picked out in gold. Signed Hokkyo Tsukioka Settei dzu and sealed o’Shinten. Status: Available Price: £3,800
Two sumo wrestlers from the East Side: Kurateyama Yadayu (right) and Izumigawa Rin’emon (left) from a fine set of double portraits: 5 from the West Side, 6 from the East Side. No publisher’s seal but probably published by Toyoshimaya Bunjiemon (Bunkindo) c. mid 1780s. Fine impression. Very good colour and condition. Signed Shunsho ga. Status: Available Price: £6,800
Click here to view image full size. A triptych showing Prince Genji in a boat with attendant page and a lady watching female awabi (abalone) divers called ama. These women were a great curiosity for the public and seen as rather risqué characters. Prince Genji was the protagonist of Murasaki Shikibu’s Heian-era novel The Tale of Genji. He was the second son of the emperor, and relegated to civilian life. Published 1865 by Maruya Kyushiro. Very good impression and colour. Slight edge soil, otherwise very good condition. Signed Kunisada hitsu. Status: Available Price: £1,280
Click here to view image full size. A triptych showing the legendary swordsman Miyamoto Musashi (centre) battling Shirakura Dengoemon (left) and his henchmen. The story usually relates how a jealous Dengoemon plots to kill Musashi by inebriating him and locking him in a bath house without his sword. However, Musashi, wielding a huge broken beam, slays Dengoemon and his followers aided by Dengoemon’s daughter Itohagi (right) who has fallen in love with Musashi. Kuniyoshi, however, depicts the event beside a mill-stream and a large waterwheel. Seiran, “Clearing Weather” from a set Mitate hakkei, “Selection for the Eight Views.” Published by Joshuya Juzo, 1846. Very good impression, colour and condition. Signed Ichiyusai Kuniyoshi ga. Status: Available Price: £3,800
An orihon with 13 brush drawings, sumi and light colour on paper mounted into an album. Image size 10.75 x 13.75; 27.25 x 35 cm. Painted in the Shijo style which employs the rapid and dexterous use of a brush loaded with pigment to achieve tonality without initial drawing or outline. While the results can be detailed, they often capture the essence of a subject in an abbreviated manner. (Zeshin studied under the Shijo artists Suzuki Nanrei and Okamoto Toyohiko.) A prodigious talent famous for his lacquer work, introducing original techniques as well as reviving old ones. Signed Zeshin on last sheet with Zeshin seal. Other sheets with seals Koman and Shin. Comes with original paulownia box. In very good condition. Status: Available Price: £4,500
Click here to view image full size. Etchu Tateyama, “Tateyama in Etchu [Province]” from a set Sankai mitate zumo, “Wrestling Matches Between Mountains and Seas.” The title is in a traditional sumo umpire’s fan (the gunbai) top right. A set of 20 prints: 10 of mountains, 10 of sea harbours. Published by Yamadaya Shojiro (Kinkyodo) in 1858. A mountainous region famous for its hiking trails and hot steam vents and sulfurous streams. The smoke from some seen here rising in juxtaposition to the mountain peaks. Fine impression and colour. This is the first edition with variegated cartouche. Slight centre fold, otherwise fine condition. Signed Hiroshige ga. Status: Available Price: £2,800
The Yoro Waterfall, Mino, Yoro no taki, “Mino [Province], Yoro Waterfall” from Rokujuyoshu meisho zue, “Famous Views of the Sixty-odd Provinces.” The 32 meters fall cascades down from Mount Tado. Legend has it that the water had rejuvenating properties with the Empress Gensho (A.D.683-748) having visited and likening the taste to that of sake. A cider, Yoro Sanroku, is produced here. Published by Koshimuraya Heisuke (Kohei), 1853-56, this being 1853. Numerous states exist of this design with colour variations and differences in gradation. Primarily the colouring of the fall changes: Some impressions have the waterfall completely blue, which obscures the blind-printing, while others, as here, have edge gradation only. Fine impression with strong blind-printing on the fall. Slight fading and toning in margins, otherwise very good condition. Very large borders. Signed Hiroshige ga. Status: Available Price: £2,800
Click here to view image full size. Meisho hakkei: Enoshima seiran “Eight Celebrated Views: Clearing Weather at Enoshima” in the oblong title cartouche and written below it: Koyurugi no iso Morokoshi ga hara “Koyurugi Strand and Morokoshi Plain.” Shows a view of the famous island from Shichiri Beach and Mount Fuji in the distance. The “Eight Views” theme originates from 11th century China and the scenery of the Xiao and Xiang Rivers made famous by the scholar-painter Song Di. Here Toyokuni sets the views in Kanagawa. Published by Iseya Rihei (Kinjudo) c early 1830s. There are two editions of this set: one with regular block script in title cartouche (as here), the other with cursive script. It is unclear which is the earliest. Cursive script is extremely difficult to read now but in 1830 it was no problem. Comparison between editions on some other designs in the set show them to be almost identical, consequently it seems that the two states are almost contemporaneous and which is earlier is a moot point. Fine impression and colour with colour in title cartouche well retained. Fine condition. Signed Toyokuni hitsu. Status: Available Price: £4,200
Click here to view image full size. Meisho hakkei: Fuji bosetsu, “Eight Celebrated Views: Evening Snow on Mount Fuji” in the oblong title cartouche and written below it: Shimo Sengen atomiya nakamiya zenzu, “Complete View of the Inner and Middle Shrines at Shimo Sengen.” A majestic Fuji towers over the shrines. The “Eight Views” theme originates from 11th century China and the scenery of the Xiao and Xiang Rivers made famous by the scholar-painter Song Di. Here Toyokuni sets the views in Kanagawa. Published by Iseya Rihei (Kinjudo) c early 1830s. There are two editions of this set: one with regular block script in title cartouche, the other with cursive script (as here). It is unclear which is the earliest. Cursive script is extremely difficult to read now but in 1830 it was no problem. Comparison between editions on some other designs in the set show them to be almost identical, consequently it seems that the two states are almost contemporaneous and which is earlier is a moot point. Fine impression and colour with colour in title cartouche well retained. Fine condition. Signed Toyokuni hitsu. Status: Available Price: £6,800
Click here to view image full size. Meisho hakkei: Miho rakugan “Eight Celebrated Views: Returning Geese at Miho” in the oblong title cartouche and written below it: Suruga Kiyomidera Yoshiwara enkei, “Distant View of Yoshiwara Station and Kiyomi Temple in Suruga Province.” A blind-printed Mount Fuji is seen on the horizon. The “Eight Views” theme originates from 11th century China and the scenery of the Xiao and Xiang Rivers made famous by the scholar-painter Song Di. Here Toyokuni sets the views in Kanagawa. Published by Iseya Rihei (Kinjudo) c early 1830s. There are two editions of this set: one with regular block script in title cartouche, the other with cursive script (as here). It is unclear which is the earliest. Cursive script is extremely difficult to read now but in 1830 it was no problem. Comparison between editions on some other designs in the set show them to be almost identical, consequently it seems that the two states are almost contemporaneous and which is earlier is a moot point. Fine impression and colour with colour in title cartouche well retained. Fine condition. Signed Toyokuni hitsu. Status: Available Price: £5,500
Click here to view image full size. “Flood” from a set Seiu kandankei, “A Barometer of Emotions.” Shows the actor Nakamura Shikan IV as the hero Abe Bungo no Kami battling the flooded Sumida River to ascertain the damage done. Sometimes the scene depicts Hirata Danemon, his retainer, fording the river or accompanying Abe Bungo. Published by Yorozuya Magobei (Kineido), 1876. A fine design. Very fine impression, colour and condition. Signed Oju Yoshitoshi hitsu. Status: Available Price: £1,580
Click here to view image full size. The actor Kawarazaki Gonjuro I as Danshichi Kurobei from a set: Rien kyokaku den, “The Story of a Chivalrous Man in the Theatrical World.” Kabuki actors playing legendary chivalrous outlaws – otokodate. He is depicted, heavily tattooed, washing off the blood after killing his father-in-law Mikawaya Giheiji. This and some other Kunisada sets around this date represent the ultimate in block cutting and precision keying with sophisticated printing techniques employing every embellishment: blind-printing, splashed pigment, burnishing, refined bokashi and mokume-zuri, while using the best quality pigments and paper. Published by Yorozucho Hiranoya (Akindo), 1863. Extremely fine de-luxe impression with mokume-zuri on the bucket. (There is a later edition lacking all the refinements.) Very fine colour. Fine condition. Signed Nanajuhassai Toyokuni hitsu, “Seventy-eight-year-old Toyokuni drew.” Status: Available Price: £1,280
Click here to view image full size. The actor Bando Hikosaburo V as Kenkaya Gorokichi from a set: Rien kyokaku den, “The Story of a Chivalrous Man in the Theatrical World.” Kabuki actors playing legendary chivalrous outlaws – otokodate. This and some other Kunisada sets around this date represent the ultimate in block cutting and precision keying with sophisticated printing techniques employing every embellishment: blind-printing, splashed pigment, burnishing, refined bokashi and mokume-zuri, while using the best quality pigments and paper. Published by Yorozucho Hiranoya (Akindo), 1863. Extremely fine de-luxe impression. (There is a later edition lacking all the refinements.) Very fine colour. Fine condition. Signed Nanajuhassai Toyokuni hitsu, “Seventy-eight-year-old Toyokuni drew.” Status: Available Price: £1,280
Click here to view image full size. The actor Matsumoto Koshiro V as Hige no Ikyu from a set: Rien kyokaku den, “The Story of a Chivalrous Man in the Theatrical World.” Kabuki actors playing legendary chivalrous outlaws – otokodate. Ikyu was known as the “Whiskered Ikyu” because of his exaggerated facial hair. He was the rival of Sukeroku and owned a sword tomokirimaru which Sukeroku covoted This and some other Kunisada sets around this date represent the ultimate in block cutting and precision keying with sophisticated printing techniques employing every embellishment: blind-printing, splashed pigment, burnishing, refined bokashi and mokume-zuri, while using the best quality pigments and paper. Published by Yorozucho Hiranoya (Akindo), 1863. Extremely fine de-luxe impression with fine blind-printing on the hair. (There is a later edition lacking all the refinements.) Very fine colour. Slight soil on the hair, otherwise fine condition. Signed Nanajuhassai Toyokuni hitsu, “Seventy-eight-year-old Toyokuni drew.” Status: Available Price: £980
Click here to view image full size. Two beauties getting ready for bed. One is seen behind a bamboo screen while the other approaches holding a bunch of tapers, one of which is lit. From a set: Mutamagawa tsuki mayuzumi, “Six Jewel Rivers: Blackened Eyebrows.” This refers to the practice of geisha to shave their eyebrows and paint new ones higher up on the forehead. This contrasted with the traditional white face makeup they wore. Published by Izumiya Ichibei (Kansendo), c 1810s. Probably Utamaro II’s best set. Very good impression. Slight fading and minor soil and creasing, otherwise good condition. Full size. Signed Utamaro hitsu. Status: Available Price: £3,500
Click here to view image full size. A beauty from a set Bijin gosekku, “Fashionable Beauties Associated with the Five Festivals.” This being the Chrysanthemum Festival on the 9th September. Unidentified publisher, c late 1820s. Fine impression. Very good colour. Slight creasing and signs of mounting au verso, otherwise good condition. Signed Eizan hitsu. Status: Available Price: £1,480
Click here to view image full size. A triptych: Bunji yonen Minamoto Yoshitsune Sesshu Daimotsu no ura nanpu no zu. Shows the vengeful drowned spirits of the Taira clan, defeated in the battle of Dan-no-ura, seeking retribution. The ghoulish samurai rise from the sea led by Taira no Tomomori (far left) and attack the ship carrying their old adversary Minamoto no Yoshitsune (seen in the centre of the first sheet). The reprisal happens during a storm in Daimotsu Bay in Settsu Province in 1188. The ship is saved and the aquatic army repelled by the intervention of Saito Musashito Benkei, the warrior-monk, who is seen on the prow of the vessel chanting incantations while holding his prayer beads. Published by Izumiya Ichibei (Kansendo), 1847-48. Very good impression, colour and condition. Signed Ichimosai Yoshitora ga. Status: Available Price: £3,200
Click here to view image full size. A triptych showing three of the prominent samurai commanders in the Taira army in the battle of Ishibashiyama on September 14th1180: Oba (Mataro) Kagehisa (far left), Oba Kagechika (centre), Kajiwara Kagetoki (far right, who in fact defected and spied for Yoritomo). The Taira crushed the Minamoto under the command of Minamoto no Yoritomo because of superior numbers although Yoritomo survived. The battle took place on the slopes of Mount Ishibashi near present day Odawara. Published by Yamamoto Kyubei (Eikyudo), who became Yamamoto Heikichi, c 1810-14. Rare. Very good impression and colour. Album backing and several very small backed pin holes. Signed Toyokuni ga. Status: Available Price: £3,800
Click here to view image full size. A triptych Harugeshiki musume dochu sanmai Tsuzuki, “A Young Lady and her Maids Being Transported Across the River in Spring.” Published by Maruya Jinpachi (Enjudo), c 1814. Fine impression and colour. Lightly toned. Extremely large margins. Signed Kuninao ga. Status: Available Price: £2,000
Click here to view image full size. A triptych of a legendary revenge story: Kiyomori nyudo Nunobiki no taki yuran Akugenta Yoshihira no nei Nanba Jiro o utsu. Shows the ghost of Akugenta Yoshihira, on the centre sheet, appearing in a thundercloud and sending down a lightning bolt to kill Nanba Jiro. Eight years previously Akugenta had been executed by Nanba Jiro after a military defeat in 1160. However, before he dies, he swears that he will come back and kill Nanba Jiro with a lightning bolt. This comes true when Nanba Jiro and Taira no Kiyomori are visiting the Nunobiki Waterfall. Kiyomori is seen on the left sheet witnessing the event. Published by Moriya Jihei (Kinshodo), 1861. Very fine impression, colour, and condition. Signed Kunichika ga. Status: Available Price: £3,800
Click here to view image full size. One of the most influential and innovative print designers, publishers and painters. He is also credited with inventing the hashira-e as well as being the first to use multiple-block printing. A wide hashira-e (habahiro hashira-e, 24 x 6 in; 61 x 15 cms) showing the actor Sanogawa Ichimatsu I. Masanobu designed a number of prints showing this popular actor who started the fashion for the hisobi pattern on his costume which is now called the Ichimatsu moyo. Published by Masanobu c 1741. Rare. Fine impression. Hand-applied colour: yellow, light red and light orange. Slight fading, otherwise very good condition. Signed Hogetsudo shomei Okumura Bunkaku Masanobu shohitsu, “Truly published by Hogetsudo and true brush by Okumura Masanobu” with seal Tanchosai. Status: Available Price: On request
Click here to view image full size. Kai no kuni Saruhashi no shinsha no zu, “A True View of the Monkey Bridge in the Province of Kai.” An impressive wooden bridge spans a deep chasm. It was called the “Monkey Bridge” because the original rickety plank structure was so precarious that only an agile monkey could cross it. Hokuju produced a number of these westernised landscapes and this is one of the best designs. Published by Nishimuraya Yohachi, c 1815. It is also known with variant colour schemes. Very good impression and colour. Slightly trimmed around and imperceptible centre fold. Signed Shotei Hokuju ga. Status: Available Price: £5,800
Click here to view image full size. A triptych showing the vengeful spirit of Akugenta Yoshihira in a giant ball of fire sending a lightning bolt down on Nanba Jiro. Retaliation for having been defeated and beheaded during the Heiji rebellion. (There are other explanations for Yoshihira’s revenge, but this is the most common.) The revenge takes place at the Nunobiki Waterfall near Kobe. The scene watched by Taira no Kiyomori. Published by Omiya Kyujiro (Kinkyu) 1856. Fine impression. Very good colour although extensive oxidation. Edge crease on centre panel, otherwise very good condition. Signed Ipposai Yoshifusa Ga. Status: Available Price: £3,800
Click here to view image full size. A winter scene with a young courtesan on an engawa gazing at an upturned ladle resting in a water basin formed from a hollow tree trunk. Behind her a young beauty peers out through the shoji. The scene calls to mind the Bell of Damnation (Muken no kane) act in the play Hiragana Seisuiki where Umegae strikes the water basin with a ladle to produce gold coins. Harushige was the ukiyo-e go of Shiba Kokan, the first artist to try copper plate engraving and who studied oil painting and etching from books he saw in Nagasaki. For a time a pupil of Harunobu whose style his prints resemble. Extremely rare: I cannot, at the moment, locate another impression. Published c early 1770s. Fine impression. Extremely good colour, the orange pigment partly oxidised. Possibly slightly trimmed left and bottom, otherwise very good condition. Status: Available Price: £12,000
Click here to view image full size. Click here to view image full size. An original drawing by the first Toyokuni. An hanshita-e diptych for a published set of triptychs with title: Yakusha juni tsuki, “Actors in the Twelve Months.” Shows the actors (from the left) Bando Mitsugoro III holding a pipe; Iwai Hanshiro V with an open book; Nakamura Utaemon III about to write a poem; and Segawa Roko IV with another pipe. They are compared to the months of the year, in this case July, the month of the Bon Odori festival and are also a parody of the Six Immortal Poets. The print published by Yamashiroya Toemon (active c. 1801-1817). In fact this set was published Spring, Bunka 6 (1809). Sumi on thin paper laid around edges onto another sheet. Some pentimenti and also shows the initial hurried under-drawing and with annotations for the finished print. Sold together with the two published sheets which shows the lanterns removed at top, the brazier bottom centre and other minor changes. In indifferent condition. An illustrated example of this complete triptych is in the Austrian Museum of Applied Arts. The print signed Toyokuni ga. Original hanshita-e by Toyokuni I are extremely rare. Sold “as is” with all imperfections. Status: Available Price: £2,500
Click here to view image full size. An original painting, full colour on silk, 43.25 x 14 in; 109.8 x 35.6 cms. An early pupil of Hokusai (who gave him his name Hishikawa Sori in 1798, it previously being Tawaraya). Generally referred to as Sori III. Produced a considerable number of small surimono – some of which can be confused with Hokusai’s work. Shows a beauty with a monkey at her feet. There is a print closely following the painting published in 1906. Illustrated in Nihon ukiyoe hakubutsukan, ed., Nikuhitsu ukiyoe senshu gekan (Selected Painting of Ukiyo-e, second vol.) Tokyo: Gakushu kenkyusha, 1985, plate 193. In very good condition. Signed Hyakurin Sori ga with seal Sori. Status: Available Price: £9,000
Click here to view image full size. Seki and Kameyama from the chuban Muraichi Tokaido. The set of 56 prints published by Muraichi, 1852. Printed two-to-a-sheet uncut and probably from a complete proof set. Double censor’s seals Murata and Kinugasa and date seal 2ic/1852 top right. Fine impressions with strong woodgrain showing. Fine colour. Very small binding holes in right border, otherwise fine condition. Signed Hiroshige ga on each print. Status: Available Price: £800
Click here to view image full size. Cao Cao (Jap. Shuso) and Pang De (Jap. Hotoku) in the Han river during the battle with Guan Yu. From a set of Chinese warrior prints: Tsuzoku sangokushi eiyu no ichinin, “Heroes of the Popular History of the Three Kingdoms.” Published by Joshuya Kinzo, c. 1836. Robinson S10.8 (although only known as a key-block proof). Rare. Superb impression. Very fine colour and condition. As the day it was printed. Signed Chooro Kuniyoshi ga. Status: Available Price: £3,800