Posts by Richard Kruml:
Kawanabe KYOSAI (1831-1889)
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Two original sumi drawings mounted onto board. One shows a seated beauty, 3.25 x 2.5 in, 8 x 6.5 cms; the other shows musicians with long noses, 5.75 x 3.75 in, 14.5 x 9.5 cms.
Status: Sold
Kawanabe KYOSAI (1831-1889)
Click here to view image full size. An original drawing, sumi on thin paper, 7.25 x 5 in, 18 x 12.5 cms. The original design for the Master of Papier Mache from a Hundred Pictures by Kyosai published 1863-6. Shows Dharma dolls coming to life and terrifying their makers. The print illustrated in Kawanabe Kyosai, […]
Kawanabe KYOSAI (1831-1889)
Click here to view image full size. An original drawing, sumi on thin paper, 10.5 x 24.25 in, 26.5 x 61.5 cms showing Emma the King of Hell being held back by three girls while another pulls his tongue with iron tongs. A fine large drawing. Kyosai seal at right. Good condition. Status: Sold
Toyohara KUNICHIKA (1835-1900)
Click here to view image full size. An original hanshita-e drawing showing actors in different roles; the one above as a warrior, and beneath as a commoner. Sumi and touches of red on thin paper. Image size 14 x 6 in, 35.5 x 15 cms. . For a series of designs contained within a hagoita […]
Toyohara KUNICHIKA (1835-1900)
Click here to view image full size. An original hanshita-e drawing showing an actor with sword raised and voluminous red hair. Sumi and red on thin paper, image size 11.5 x 5.75 in, 30 x 14.5 cms. For a series of designs contained within a hagoita ( wooden paddles used to play the New Year […]
Tsukioka YOSHITOSHI (1839-1892)
Click here to view image full size. An original hanshita-e drawing presumably showing Kintaro with a monkey, pheasant and dog. A lovely preparatory sketch in sumi and pink on thin paper, image size 13 x 6.25 in, 33 x 16 cms. For a series of designs contained within a hagoita ( wooden paddles used to […]
Utagawa HIROSHIGE (1787-1858)
Click here to view image full size. A vertical diptych showing a multitude of cranes flying up from a cresting wave to a large red sun. In fact this diptych was used by an Edo publisher as end sheets to albums – usually sets of Hiroshige landscapes. Rare: Invariably it is impossible to match the […]
Utagawa HIROSHIGE (1787-1858)
Click here to view image full size. Azuma no Mori no koji “ The Old Story of Azuma” from a set Toto kyuseki tsukushi, “Old Edo Stories, Illustrated.” Exceptionally rare: Four other designs from the set came up at the Orange and Thornicraft sale, Sothebys, 25/3/1912, lot 440. And another impression of this design is […]
Utagawa KUNIYOSHI (1797-1861)
Click here to view image full size. A triptych with title Furyu ningyo zu, “Pictures of Dolls in Contemporary Fashion.” There was a craze for these lifelike dolls in the 1850s ( this triptych being dated 2/1856 ). In fact Kuniyoshi designed another print in the same year of the centre subject Tammeijiro Genshogo being […]
Tsukioka YOSHITOSHI (1839-1892)
Click here to view image full size. An important original oban wood-block for printing the last sheet of a triptych Gishi youchi rannyu no zu, the night attack of the forty-seven Ronin. The block was cut by Hori Cho and published by Fujikei, 4/1864. The only Yoshitoshi block I have seen. Sold together with the […]
Utagawa KUNISADA (1786-1865)
Click here to view image full size. A nagaban ( 20 x 9 in; 51 x 23 cms ) print showing a rear view of General Bacho ( Chinese Ma Chao ) on horseback carrying a huge axe. One of the Five Tiger Generals, heroes of the Chinese Ming Dynasty “Romance of the Three Kingdoms.” […]
Utagawa HIROSHIGE (1787-1858)
Click here to view image full size. Masaki atari yori Suijin no mori uchikawa Sekiya no sata o miru zu, “View of Suijin Grove and Sekiya Village, Seen From Near Masaki” from Meisho Edo hyakkei, the “One Hundred Views of Edo” published by Uoei between 1856 and 1858 ( this being Snake 8, 1857 ). […]
Utagawa HIROSHIGE (1787-1858)
Click here to view image full size. Konodai Tonegawa fukei, “View of Konodai and the Tone River” from Meisho Edo hyakkei, the “One Hundred Views of Edo” published by Uoei between 1856 and 1858 ( this being Dragon 5, 1856 ). Shows the river disappearing in the distance with Mt Fuji on the horizon. The […]
Katsushika HOKUSAI (1760-1849)
Click here to view image full size. A view of two temples separated by water: Mimeguri and Ushi-no Misaka. From an early set of thirteen prints with title Shimpan uki-e, “New Perspective Prints,” published by Iseya Rihei, 1811. ( Although various dates are given between 1804 and 1810 for the series, in fact at least […]
Cho GESSHO (1772-1832)
Click here to view image full size. An original painting showing an autumnal scene with a woodcutter carrying an axe and about to cross a bridge over a river that flows down from paddy fields with steep cliffs above. In the mid-distance a man on a bullock. Gessho was the son of a kakemono-mounter and, […]
Utagawa YOSHIIKU ( 1833-1904 )
Click here to view image full size. No. 82, Goto Matabei Mototsugu stopping a cannon shot with his shield from a large chuban series Taiheiki eiyuden “ Biographies of the Heroes of the Taiheiki.” A fictional history written in the late 14th century. The set published by Hirooka Kosuke, 1/1867. One of the four best […]
Tsukioka YOSHITOSHI (1839-1892)
Click here to view image full size. The best design from the set Tsuki hyakushi, the “Hundred Phases of the Moon”. The set published between 1885 and 1892 ( this being 1886 ) by Akiyama Buemon. Benkei against a full moon. In 1185 Yoshitsune attacked by his half-brother Minamoto no Yoritomo, was forced to flee […]
Utagawa KUNISADA II (1823-1880)
Click here to view image full size. The cat witch Ama Myochin. The best design from the set Hakkenden inu no soshi no uchi, biographies of the Eight Dog heroes. She peeps between two bamboo curtains, the silhouette of her true self – large hairy body and huge claws – being revealed through the curtains. […]
Utagawa HIROSHIGE (1787-1858)
Click here to view image full size. Oniwakamaru, the young Benkei, battling with the giant red carp that swallowed his mother. From a set Yoshitsune ichidai zu. Of the utmost rarity: Stewart in Subjects Portrayed in Japanese Colour-Prints, Kegan Paul, 1922, p. 318, states that only one design ( not this ) was known at […]
Kawanabe KYOSAI (1831-1889)
Click here to view image full size. MAY in romaji from a set of the twelve months, Junikagetsu no uchi, although this is the only known design for the set. One of Kyosai’s best designs. Shows Shoki, the “Demon Queller” riding a tiger and brandishing his two-edged sword at a group of terrified oni. Shoki […]
Ichiyusai KUNIYOSHI (1797-1861)
Click here to view image full size. Shinchunagon Tomomori clasping the great anchor and binding the rope about him prior to jumping into the sea after his defeat at the battle of Dannoura. From an untitled series of at least seventeen prints. This design published by Yamashiroya Heisuke, c. 1845. Extremely rare: Ex Robinson collection […]
Katsushika HOKUSAI (1760-1849)
Click here to view image full size. A fine long surimono with poems attached showing horsetails, fern fronds and kuzu ( arrowroot ) lying in and around a lady’s travelling hat with silk cushion and the two red cords for tying. Of the utmost rarity: other impressions in TNMC, no. 3708 ( without poems ? […]
Utagawa HIROSHIGE (1787-1858)
Click here to view image full size. Awabi or tokobushi, abalone or “sea-ear” and sayori, Japanese half-beak or snipe-fish, together with peach blossom from the first series of ten prints published by Eijudo, c. 1832-4. Good impression. Very good colour. Slight creasing, otherwise good condition. Signed Ichiyusai Hiroshige ga. Status: Sold
Katsushika HOKUSAI (1760-1849)
Click here to view image full size. One of the most majestic landscape sets: Shokoku takimeguri, “Travelling Around the Waterfall Country.” A series of eight waterfalls, this being the Kirifuri, “Falling Mist” fall that cascades down Kurokami mountain in Shimotsuke Province. Shimotsuke Kurokamiyama Kirifuri no taki. Pilgrims from Nikko admire the fall, one with Eijudo’s […]
Utagawa HIROSHIGE (1797-1858)
Click here to view image full size. The sea shore at Izu from the set Fuji sanjurokkei, the “Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji.” The series published by Sanoya Kihei, 1852. This chuban set is now recognised as one of Hiroshige’s finest series and this is the best design. Late editions are not known which probably […]
Utagawa HIROSHIGE (1797-1858)
Click here to view image full size. Sakanoshita fudesute mine, “The Peak of Fudesute Mountain from Sakanoshita.” Fudesute means to “throw away brush” which alludes to the story of the artist Motonobu Kano who, unable to capture the beauty of this view, threw his brush away. From the Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido. The set […]
Utagawa HIROSHIGE (1797-1858)
Click here to view image full size. Otsu hashirii chamise, “The Running Well Teahouse at Otsu” from the Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido. The set published by Hoeido and Senkakudo, c. 1833-4. Shows the teahouse with the eponymous well at far left. So-called because of the water that gushed from it. Rice cakes in Otsu […]
Katsukawa SHUN’EI (1762-1819)
Click here to view image full size. An original Shun’ei brush drawing showing the Soga brothers revenge on Suketsune in his tent. This appears to be a preliminary design for a print illustrated in Ukiyoe meihan, 500 Ukiyoe Masterpieces, no. 85, p. 39 but with the figures facing the other way. The print published by […]
Utagawa HIROSHIGE (1787-1858)
Click here to view image full size. An original Hiroshige brush drawing of an aji ( also muroaji ), horse-mackerel; awabi, abalone, and two ginger roots. On thin Japanese paper, 9 x 6.75 in, 22.9 x 17 cms. Beautifully signed Hiroshige hitsu. Probably a small present for a friend. Ex collections Hayashi ( seal bottom […]
Shibata ZESHIN (1807-1891)
Click here to view image full size. Two ehon complete with title on red slips: Shibata Zeshin gafu, “Picture Book by Shibata Zeshin, Shohan.” Original stippled yellow covers. Inside page: Ehon yamato nishiki no uchi, Shibata Zeshin sensei gafu. Toto Kikado zo. Twenty designs by Zeshin from the collection of Kikado of Tokyo. This appears […]
Ittosai MASANOBU (active c1849-1853)
Click here to view image full size. The actor Kataoka Gado II as Honchomaru Tsunagoro in the play Honcho itoya no musume performed at the Chikugo theatre in 8/1849. From the set: Date kurabe kyokaku den, “A Comparison of the Stylishness of Famous Gallants”. Fine deluxe surimono-style impression and colour. Margin trimmed to black […]
MASUHARU (active c1840-1850)
Click here to view image full size. The actor Arashi Rikan III as Ukiyo Tohei in the kabuki play Sendai Hagi performed at the Onishi theatre in 3/1848. From the set: Date kurabe kyokaku den, “A Comparison of the Stylishness of Famous Gallants”. Fine deluxe surimono-style impression and colour. Margin trimmed a little at […]
Tsukioka YOSHITOSHI (1839-1892)
Click here to view image full size. Mushashino no tsuki, “The Moon on Musashi Plain ” from the set Tsuki hyakushi, the “Hundred Phases of the Moon”. The set published between 1885 and 1892 ( this being 1892 ) by Akiyama Buemon. One of the three best designs from the set and the one that […]
Toyohara KUNICHIKA (1835-1900)
Click here to view image full size. Suketakaya Takasuke IV as Inuzuka Shino on the roof of the pavilion Horyukaku fighting Kenpachi. A fine set based on Bakin’s Hakkenden, entitled “A Parody of the Hakkenden” published by Fukuda Kumajiro, 1883. A rare series that shows, even at this late date, there are flashes of brilliance. […]
Toyohara KUNICHIKA (1835-1900)
Click here to view image full size. Nakamura Shikan II as Inuyama Dosetsu battling with Inukai Kenpachi. A fine set based on Bakin’s Hakkenden entitled “A Parody of the Hakkenden” published by Fukuda Kumajiro, 1883. A rare series that shows, even at this late date, there are flashes of brilliance. Very fine impression of the […]
Utagawa KUNISADA (1786-1865)
Click here to view image full size. The best design from Rien kyokaku-den, ” The Story of a Chivalrous Man in the Theatrical World.” Shows the actor Kawarazaki Gonjuro as Danshichi, a fishmonger and otokodate ( “chivalrous commoner” ) in the play Natsu matsuri Naniwa kagami. “Summer Festival: Mirror of Osaka.” He is shown washing […]
Utagawa KUNISADA (1786-1865)
Click here to view image full size. Arashi Kichisaburo III as the bandit Akatsuki Hoshigoro, the son of of Nitta Yoshisada. Originally performed as Yotuya kaidan Chushingura. One of the best designs from Toyokuni kigo kijutsu kurabe, “A Contest of Magic Scenes by Toyokuni.” A night scene showing the bandit seated on the back of […]
Utagawa KUNISADA (1786-1865)
Click here to view image full size. The best design from Toyokuni kigo kijutsu kurabe, “A Contest of Magic Scenes by Toyokuni.” Shows the actor Ichikawa Kodanji IV as Mo’un Kokushi. The story is based on the Takizawa Bakin and Hokusai Chinsetsu yumiharizuki. The magician is seated on a rocky promontory with exploding rocks emanating […]
Utagawa KUNIYOSHI (1797-1861)
Click here to view image full size. The best design from Kenjo reppuden, “Stories of Wise and Virtuous Women.” Shows Hatsuhana doing penance under the Tonozawa waterfall fulfilling a vow made on behalf of her sick husband, Katsugoro. She dies from the experience but Katsugoro is cured and kills his brother’s murderer near the waterfall […]