Posts by Richard Kruml:
Utagawa KUNIYOSHI (1797-1861)
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The best design from a set of half-length otokodate figures: Kuniyoshi moyo shofuda tsuketari genkin otoko, “Men of Ready Money with True Labels Attached, Kuniyoshi Fashion.” Here showing Danshichi Kurobei emptying a bucket of water over himself. Danshichi was a fishmonger in the city of Sakai who murdered somebody in the mid-winterof 1697, the body only being discovered when the snow melted. He is often depicted pouring water over his head, although there are also versions where he commits the crime in a swamp. Published by Ibaya Kyubedi, 1845. Poem by Hoshitei.
Very good impression and colour. Slight trimming, otherwise very good condition. Signed Ichiyusai Kuniyoshi ga.
Status: Sold
Tsukioka YOSHITOSHI (1839-1892)
Click here to view image full size. Tamiya Boutaro from a set Kokoku nijushiko, “The Twenty-four Accomplishments in Imperial Japan.” Shows the spirit of the tengu helping Tamiya Boutaro Munechika avenge his father’s death. The set published by Tsuda Genshichi 1881-87 (this being 1881). Fine impression: This is the first edition. It was […]
An original BLOCK (c. 1715)
Click here to view image full size. Click here to view image full size. An original double-sided wood block, c. 1715. This is the earliest block I have catalogued or indeed seen. Shows warriors in combat on one side and on the reverse a samurai and attendant approaching a beauty on a balcony. Sold “as […]
Utagawa KUNIYOSHI (1797-1861)
Click here to view image full size. The priest Nichiren standing on a rocky promontory at Reizen in Kamakura and having his prayers for rain answered. The event occurred in 1271. His disciples surround him and protect him from the deluge with a large umbrella. Bunei hachi Kamakura Reizan-ga-saki uki. The second best design from […]
Kobayashi KIYOCHIKA (1847-1915)
Click here to view image full size. A triptych, Akechi Samanosuke Mitsuhara kosui joho Karasaki matsu no zu. Shows Akechi Samanosuke Mitsuhara swimming with his horse and with his kikyo (Chinese bell flower) standard tied to his back across Lake Biwa to his cousin’s house at Sakamoto where he kills Mitsuhide’s wife and children to […]
Tsukioka YOSHITOSHI (1839-1892)
Click here to view image full size. A vertical diptych Shunkan sozu Kikaigashima ni oite tamatama Yasuyori no shamen sembo kito no zu. Shows Shunkan watching a boat sail away from Kikai Island with his pardoned compatriots. Shunkan, the abbot of the Zen temple Hoshoji in Kyoto, was exiled to the barren island of Kikaigashima […]
Utagawa KUNISADA (1786-1865)
Click here to view image full size. A very early and extremely rare diptych showing Hakamadare Yasusuke and Hirai no Yasumasa. A famous story depicted many times by other artists during the following century. The story relates how Yasumasa, an accomplished flautist, is playing his flute one evening on Ichihara moor. Unknown to him, the […]
Suzuki HARUNOBU (1724-1770)
Click here to view image full size. A pillar print showing a young dandy holding an Odawara lantern on entering a Shinto shrine. One leg of the Torii is in the background behind a hinoki tree. Another impression is illustrated in The Japanese Pillar Print, Hashira-e, Jacob Pins, Robert G. Sawers publishing, 1982, 184a, p. […]
Katsukawa SHUNTEI (1770-1820)
Click here to view image full size. A triptych showing the killing of the giant Earth Spider in its cave. These Tsuchigumo were a form of spider-like yokai. Minamoto no Yorimitsu’s (aka Raiko, 948-1021) retainers (The Four Heavenly Kings) are shown holding the spider down with the trunk of a large tree: Sakata no Kintoki, […]
Utagawa KUNIYOSHI (1797-1861)
Click here to view image full size. A triptych showing Fujiwara no Hidesato being accompanied by a retinue of fish, octopuses and lobsters as he leaves the Dragon King’s Palace with the presents of inexhaustible rice, bolts of cloth, and a bell in gratitude for killing the centipede of Mount Mikami. Ryugujo Tawara Toda Hidesato […]
Taiso YOSHITOSHI (1839-1892)
Click here to view image full size. Kobayakawa Takakage debating with the tengu on mount Hiko from Shinkei sanjurokkaisen, “New Forms of Thirty-six Ghosts.”The set published by Sasaki Toyokichi, 1889-1892 (this being 1892). Very fine first edition. Fine colour and condition. Signed Yoshitoshi. Status: Sold
Tsukioka YOSHITOSHI (1839-1892)
Click here to view image full size. Shows the famous episode from the Edo novel Nanso Satomi hakkenden “Chronicles of the Eight Dog Heroes of the Satomi Clan of Nanso.” Two of the heroes Inuzuka Shino and Inukai Kempachi fall from the rooftop of Horyukachu Tower, Koga Castle, still grappling with each other and scattering […]
Tsukioka YOSHITOSHI (1839-1892)
Click here to view image full size. Shows Asahina Saburo Yoshihide, the fabled warrior of superhuman strength, subjugating the King of Hell, Ema-o. He forces him to indicate the path to Heaven. This episode is from the kabuki play Asahina. From the set Ikkai zuihitsu, “Essays by Yoshitoshi.” (Ikkai was an early name of Yoshitoshi’s.) […]
Tsukioka YOSHITOSHI (1839-1892)
Click here to view image full size. Shows the cannibalistic old hag of Adachi Moor attacking a young woman. There are various versions of this macabre story but the central theme is that she needed to collect blood, usually from unborn children, either for herself or as a remedy for her sickly lord. From the […]
Tsukioka YOSHITOSHI (1839-1892)
Click here to view image full size. Shows the famed warrior Sanada Saemon-no-jo Yukimura (in fact Nobushige) crouching down amongst giant lotus plants, holding a rifle, in order to ambush Tokugawa Ieyasu during the siege of Osaka castle. Initially, Yukimura was a follower of Ieyasu but was betrayed by having his land seized and so […]
Tsukioka YOSHITOSHI (1839-1892)
Click here to view image full size. Yodo-no-Kimi (aka Yodogimi), the concubine and second wife of the daimyo Toyotomi Hideyoshi, readies herself for seppuku: Hideyoshi, having died, she and her son are thought to pose a threat to Tokugawa Ieyasu who had become a guardian of Hideyoshi’s son. They hold up in Osaka castle where […]
Tsukioka YOSHITOSHI (1839-1892)
Click here to view image full size. Shows Chao Gai (Jap. Takuto Tenno Chogai), the Heavenly King and Suikoden hero, lifting a stone pagoda which releases a Pandora’s box of gruesome spirits: An enormous white figure with a face on its abdomen, various oni and a brown spirit, its chest holding a twisting snake. From […]
Utagawa KUNIYOSHI (1797-1861)
Click here to view image full size. The last stand of the Kusunoki at Shijonawate in 1348. The battle between Ko no Moronao of the Northern Court and Kusunoki Masatsura of the Southern Court. Shows the warriors Genshu, Masatsura and Masatomo in a hail of arrows. Masatsura dies at the tender age of 22. This […]
Utagawa KUNIYOSHI (1797-1861)
Click here to view image full size. Sasai Kyuzo Masayasu enveloped in smoke and avoiding musketry at the battle of Anegawa. The best design 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 […]
Utagawa KUNIYOSHI (1797-1861)
Click here to view image full size. Shows Hatsuhana’s long penance under the Tonozawa waterfall to aid her crippled husband “Hazari” Katsugoro who is intent on revenging his brother’s murder. Hatsuhana dies, Katsugoro is cured and kills his arch enemy near the waterfall. From the set Kenjo reppuden, “Stories of Wise and Virtuous Women.” Published […]
Utagawa KUNIYOSHI (1797-1861)
Click here to view image full size. Koshibe no Sugaru amidst a thunderbolt and lightning captures a raiju (thunder monster) in the village of Toyora. Toyora no sato ni rai o torau. Its body was composed of lightning and usually in the form of a wolf or dog. Its cry sounded like thunder. Raiju is […]
Utagawa KUNIYOSHI (1797-1861)
Click here to view image full size. Shows Matsuura Sayohime at the top of Kagami Mountain at Matsuura sadly watching her departing husband, Otomo no Sadehiko, on his way to Korea. It’s told she prayed with such fervour that she was turned to stone. From the set Kenjo reppuden, “Stories of Wise and Virtuous Women.” […]
Utagawa KUNIYOSHI (1797-1861)
Click here to view image full size. Kaneko Kugutsune (aka Okane, Kane-jo, and Omi no Okane) from the set Chuko meiyo kijin den, “Stories of Remarkable Persons of Loyalty and High Reputation.” Published by Iseya Ichiemon or Enshuya Matabei (this design) 1845. Robinson S35.5. Known as the Strong Woman of Omi, she is credited with […]
Utagawa KUNIYOSHI (1797-1861)
Click here to view image full size. Musashi-bo Benkei of herculean strength subdued by the young Onzoshi Ushiwaka Maru (Yoshitsune) on Gojo Bridge. The story relates how Benkei (1155-1189) wandered around Kyoto with the intention of relieving 1000 samurai of their swords. One night with one more sword to go he saw Yoshitsune playing a […]
Tsukioka YOSHITOSHI (1839-1892)
Click here to view image full size. “Flood” from a series Seiu kandankei, “A Barometer of Emotions.” Shows Nakamura Shikan III as Abe Bungo no Kami riding his horse through waves. Published by Okura Magobei 1876-77 (this being 1876). A rare set with some striking designs comparing actors in theatrical roles with meteorological phenomena. Fine […]
Utagawa KUNIYOSHI (1797-1861)
Click here to view image full size. The death of the Daimyo Imagawa Yoshimoto (1519-60) by Oda Nobunaga during the battle of Okehazama which was fought at night during an intense downpour and was the culmination of the feud between the Imagawa and Oda clans. The battlefield is now a park and a national historical […]
Utagawa KUNIYOSHI (1797-1861)
Click here to view image full size. Yamamoto Kansuke striding through the snow. “Boar” from a set Mitate junishi, “Selection for the Twelve Signs.” Published by Ibaya Kyubei, c 1845. (Kansuke was famous for killing a giant boar in the snow.) Robinson S38.12. Fine impression, colour and condition. Signed Ichiyusai Kuniyoshi ga. Status: Sold
Tsukioka YOSHITOSHI (1839-1892)
Click here to view image full size. A vertical diptych Seigen daraku no zu showing the priest Seigen of the Kiyomizudera Temple in Kyoto and the beautiful Sakura-hime (Princess Sakura). Several versions of the story exist. In one, Sakura-hime is Seigen’s long-deceased lover reincarnated as a young priest called Shiragiku. In another, Shiragiku is the […]
Utagawa KUNIYOSHI (1797-1861)
Click here to view image full size. The fifteen year old Otani Furuinosuke killing a giant boar with his bare hands. From a set Honcho Suikoden goyu happyakunin no hitori, “One of the Eight Hundred Heroes of the Water Margin of Japan.” Published by Kagaya Kichiemon c 1831. This is the first edition: It was […]
Utagawa YOSHITSUYA (1822-1866)
Click here to view image full size. A fine design showing the outlaw Yasusuke Hakamadare surrounded by a giant snake amidst falling leaves. He was able to disguise himself using the skins of animals and this translated into the notion that he could transform himself into these creatures or conjure them up as in the […]
Utagawa YOSHIYUKI (Active 1848-1864)
Click here to view image full size. A triptych showing one of the great combats of the Gempei wars during the battle of Ichi-no-Tani to the west of Kobe in 1184. In the centre the Taira leader Satsuma no Kami Tadanori holds down the Minamoto Okabe Rokuyata Tadazumi. On the left Gennai Saemon Hidekata and […]
Utagawa KUNIYOSHI (1797-1861)
Click here to view image full size. A complete diptych showing Miyamoto Musashi dressed for travelling looking across at Sasaki Kojiro who stands in profile with clenched fist. These two great swordsmen agreed to fight on April 13, 1612, on Ganryu Island off the coast of Bizen Province. The outcome was that Musashi killed Kojiro. […]
Utagawa KUNIYOSHI (1797-1861)
Click here to view image full size. Jigoku Dayu, the “Hell Courtesan” from the set Chuko meiyo kijin den, “Stories of Remarkable Persons of Loyalty and High Reputation.” Published by Iseya Ichiemon or Enshuya Matabei (this design) 1845. Robinson S35.3. She was a courtesan who found enlightenment through the Buddhist monk Ikkyu. (The fly-whisk she […]
Utagawa KUNISADA (1786-1865)
Click here to view image full size. Shows the monk Mongaku Shonin doing repentance under the Nachi waterfall in winter. The story relates how Endo Morito (the secular name of Mongaku) falls in love with Kesa Gozen, the beautiful wife of his colleague Watanabe Wataru. Eventually she conspires to allow him into their bedroom at […]
Torii KIYONAGA (1752-1815)
Click here to view image full size. Shows Benkei humourously kneeling to tie his slipper prior to the fight on Gojo Bridge. The story relates how Benkei, of Herculean strength, was subdued by the young Onzoshi Ushiwaka Maru (Yoshitsune) on Gojo Bridge. Benkei was wandering around Kyoto with the intention of relieving 1000 samurai of […]
Tsukioka YOSHITOSHI (1839-1892)
Click here to view image full size. A heavily tattooed fishmonger, Danshichi Kurobei, slaughtering his father-in-law, Mikawaya Giheiji, in a swamp. From a set Eimei nijuhasshuku, “Twenty-eight Famous Murders with Verse.” A series produced with Yoshiiku, each designing 14 prints. Published by Kinseido between 1866 and 1869, this being 1866. The story relates how Kurobei […]
Tsukioka YOSHITOSHI (1839-1892)
Click here to view image full size. Tanaka Kanhachi falling backwards into a sea of mud from a set Kaidai hyaku, “Yoshitoshi’s Selection of One Hundred Warriors.” Sixty-five prints published by Ohashiya Yashichi between 1868 and 1869, this being 1869. The text in the square cartouches in this set refer to prominent warriors in the […]
Tsukioka YOSHITOSHI (1839-1892)
Click here to view image full size. The boy warrior Sakai Kuzo hurling a te-yari spear from a set Kaidai hyaku, “Yoshitoshi’s Selection of One Hundred Warriors.” Sixty-five prints published by Ohashiya Yashichi between 1868 and 1869, this being 1868. The text in the square cartouches in this set refer to prominent warriors in the […]
Utagawa KUNIYOSHI (1798-1861)
Click here to view image full size. A triptych Gishi shiju shichi-nin hommo wo toge…. Shows the Forty-seven Ronin crossing Ryogoku bridge with the head of their enemy while on the way to the Memorial Temple after carrying out their revenge. Yuranosuke bows to a mounted official on the near side. Published by Yamamoto-ya Heikichi […]
Tsukioka YOSHITOSHI (1839-1892)
Click here to view image full size. A triptych showing Raiko and his four companions conquering the demon of Oe Mountain. Raiko shitenno Oeyama kijin taiji. The story relates how the demon (Shuten-doji) kidnappes young girls and keeps them captive in his lair on Mt. Oe near Kyoto. The great warrior Minamoto no Yorimitsu (Raiko) […]