Posts by Richard Kruml:
Taiso YOSHITOSHI (1839 – 1892)
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Wakashima Gonemon swimming underwater. The finest design from Azuma no nishiki ukiyo kodan, published by Masudaya 1867/11.
Very fine impression with perfect gradation. Fine colour and condition. Signed Ikkaisai Yoshitoshi hitsu.
Status: Sold
Taiso YOSHITOSHI (1839 – 1892)
Click here to view image full size. Choun riding a horse through smoke. One of the finest designs from Azuma no nishiki ukiyo kodan. Published by Yamajin, 1867/9. Fine impression and colour. Light crease otherwise very good condition. Signed Ikkaisai Yoshitoshi hitsu. Status: Sold
Taiso YOSHITOSHI (1839 – 1892)
Click here to view image full size. Mashiba Dairyo Hisayoshi Ko in lightning. The finest design (together with Kon Sosho and the storm dragon) from Yoshitoshi’s first set of ghost prints: Wakan hyaku monogatari. Published by Daikin, 1865/2. Fine impression, colour and, apart from minor crinkling, condition. Extensive burnishing and other special effects. Signed Ikkaisai […]
Yanagawa SHIGENOBU II (Active 1824 – 1860)
Click here to view image full size. San konoshitakage, “Number Three: In the Shade of a Tree” from a set: Meiba zoroe, “Famous Horses.” Shows a beauty sheltering from rain. Published for the Horse Year 1834. Fine impression. Very good colour and condition. Signed Nisei Yanagawa Shigenobu Status: Sold
Katsushika HOKUSAI (1760 – 1849)
Click here to view image full size. Kinutagai, “The Fulling Block Shell” from the series: Genroku Kasen kaiawase, “A Matching Game with the Genroku Poem Shells.” ( An anthology published in 1689. ) A collection of verses with pictures designed by Hokusai printed on 36 sheets. Commissioned by the Yomogawa poetry group for the New […]
Katsushika HOKUSAI (1760 – 1849)
Click here to view image full size. Sakuragai, “The Cherry Blossom Shell” from the series: Genroku Kasen kaiawase, “A Matching Game with the Genroku Poem Shells.” ( An anthology published in 1689. ) A collection of verses with pictures designed by Hokusai printed on 36 sheets. Commissioned by the Yomogawa poetry group for the New […]
Katsushika HOKUTAI (Act. c. 1800 – 1830)
Click here to view image full size. A long surimono by an early pupil of Hokusai. Most likely an invitation to a New Year musical event at Shinagawa ( ? ). Shows three musicians playing samisen, koto and kokyu ( ? ). Probably a unique impression. An Eisai Hokutai was the artist for a book: […]
Utagawa KUNISADA (1786 – 1865)
Click here to view image full size. Ichikawa Danjuro VII as Urashima Taro, seated with his fishing rod and the black box behind him that contains his old age. Urashima Taro saved a giant tortoise and was rewarded by a visit to the Dragon King’s palace beneath the sea by the Dragon’s daughter Otohime. Published […]
Utagawa KUNISADA (1786 – 1865)
Click here to view image full size. Ichikawa Danjuro VII ( crouching below ) as Konoshita Tokichi and Segawa Kikunojo V as Princess Otohime. This does not illustrate a particular play, but was obviously intended for the year 1820 as Otohime was the daughter of the Dragon King ( 1820 being a dragon year ). […]
Utagawa KUNISADA (1786 – 1865)
Click here to view image full size. Two sheets ( of three ) showing the actor Ichikawa Danjuro VII ( left ) in the role of Minamoto Yorimasa holding a firebrand to better see the giant Nue and Bando Mitsugoro III as Tametomo with his giant bow. The complete set is in the Fitzwilliam Museum, […]
Shibata ZESHIN (1807 – 1891), Ikeda TAISHIN and SUISHIN
Click here to view image full size. A complete set of the four seasons in shijo style: Spring showing cherry blossom viewing signed Taishin; Summer is a still life of theatre props signed Zeshin; Autumn shows people moon viewing signed Suishin, and Winter shows a woman tentatively lifting a bamboo screen on a snow-bound boat […]
Utagawa TOYOKUNI I (1769 – 1825)
Click here to view image full size. A wonderful design showing the actor Ichikawa Ebizo VI ( Danjuro VIII ) holding a large umbrella with his face reflected in a mirror held by an acolyte. Two poems above by Sakuragawa Jihinari and Jihinari’s son Oya no Omokage. In fact these two writers also composed poems […]
Harunobu GAKUTEI (c.1786 – 1868)
Click here to view image full size. A sumptuously clothed beauty designed for the Shippo Club. The surimono is unusual in having a caramel-coloured background. Fine impression, colour and condition. Signed Gakutei with seal Shima. Status: Sold
Kubo SHUNMAN (1757 – 1820)
Click here to view image full size. A superb surimono showing a group of five cranes on a split of sand. The tancho ( “red crest” ) Japanese Crane, Grus japonensis, is the second rarest crane in the world, migrating to East Asia in the fall to spend the winter. There is also a resident […]
Katsushika HOKUSAI (1760 – 1849)
Click here to view image full size. A rare surimono from a series Soramitsuyaren wakan buyu awase samban no uchi, “Japanese and Chinese Heroes for the Soramitsuya Circle.” ( A club named after its leader Soramitsuya Maeda. ) Shows Benkei in a tug-of-war with a Chinese beauty ( possibly Kosanjo according to Keyes ). Poems […]
Totoya HOKKEI (1780 – 1850)
Click here to view image full size. The Dragon King, Ryu-jin, presenting the tide-ruling jewels Nanjiu and Kanjiu. In Japanese folklore he ruled the sea and inhabited a spectacular castle in the depths of the ocean. Fine impression and colour with extensive gold and silver. Minimal edge soil. Signed Hokkei. Status: Sold
Katsushika HOKUSAI (1760 – 1849)
Click here to view image full size. A rare surimono from the series Umazukushi, “A Series of Horses” published 1822 ( Year of the Horse ). Shows the banks of the Sumida river, Komatomeishi, with the stone used for tethering horses bottom centre. This surimono is one of three that form a triptych. The complete […]
Wakai RYOUNTEI (Dates unknown)
Click here to view image full size. Shows a dancing shojo: A mythical creature with long red hair who lived near the sea and had an unquenchable thirst for sake. Published c.late 1820s. Rare: Another impression illustrated in One Hundred Surimono in the Collection of Sidney C. Ward, no.95, p.115. Very fine impression with solid […]
Katsushika HOKUSAI (1760 – 1849)
Click here to view image full size. A rare long surimono complete with the attached invitation ( yokonagaban ). Mitate junidan soshi, “A Parody from Twelve Fairy Tales.” Shows Ushiwaka and prince Joruri. The invitation is to a dramatic recital with music ( joruri ) organised by Tokiwazu moji kiyo and has the names of […]
Ryusai SHEGEHARU (1803-1853)
Click here to view image full size. A surimono diptych of actors. Shigeharu, according to contemporary accounts, was the only professional full-time actor/print designer. True shikishi-ban Osaka surimono are extremely rare: Anecdotally there are supposed to be some others in the vaults of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.AA surimono of a sumo wrestler in […]
Utagawa KUNIYASU (1794-1832)
Click here to view image full size. A surimono of a sumo wrestler in a typical stance. The calligraphy above, being gold on a dark blue ground and which might be a guide to the wrestler, is too obscure to read. Although sumo is a rare subject for surimono, there are another two illustrated examples […]
Ichiyusai KUNIYOSHI (1797 – 1861)
Click here to view image full size. An extremely rare surimono. ( I have only located one other impression at the present moment: no. 192, p. 178, Heroes & Ghosts, Hotei publishing, 1998.) Shows Ichikawa Danjuro VIII in Shibaraku role. The voluminous robe and huge mon gives rise to some of the most dramatic and […]
Kochoro KUNISADA (1786 – 1865)
Click here to view image full size. A surimono double actor portrait probably showing Ichikawa Danjuro VIII as Sukeroku and Matsumoto Koshiro ( V ? ) as Ikyu from the play Sukeroku, c 1859. This could be a commemorative surimono from the actors’ fan clubs. The inset busts are shown against a backdrop of beautifully […]
Aoigaoka HOKKEI (1780 – 1850)
Click here to view image full size. An unidentified fish amongst carnations. An apparently unrecorded surimono. Fine impression and colour. Minor crease, otherwise good condition. Signed Hokkei. Status: Sold
Totoya HOKKEI (1780-1850)
Click here to view image full size. Two swallows diving above a stream from a set Sanju-roku tori zukushi, “A Series of Thirty-six Birds and Animals”. The title in the shape of a rolled makimono top right. A takaramono printed in gold on blue with good luck symbols runs along the top. Produced for the […]
Totoya HOKKEI (1780-1850)
Click here to view image full size. A deer with her fawn from a set Sanju-roku tori zukushi, “A Series of Thirty-six Birds and Animals”. The title in the shape of a rolled makimono top right. A takaramono printed in gold on blue with good luck symbols runs along the top. Produced for the Shipporen […]
Ichiyusai KUNIYOSHI (1797-1861)
Click here to view image full size. An excessively rare surimono, no.3 from a set Fuzoku onna Suikoden, “The Suikoden in the Customs of Women”. Shows a girl sitting on the shore, pipe in hand and her tobacco pouch on the side of a basket. Published for the Taikogawa poetry club, c1829. Ex Vever collection. […]
Totoya HOKKEI (1780-1850)
Click here to view image full size. A rare surimono with title: Enoshima kiko, Ryudo, “Record of a Journey to Enoshima”. A set of sixteen prints for the Manji-ren Club ( their swastika seal top right above title cartouche ). Each surimono has an association with Enoshima, as here, where the year of issue is […]
Totoya HOKKEI (1780-1850)
Click here to view image full size. A rare surimono showing a tea-house on an inlet. A couple are being entertained by a waitress in an open room while another goes to collect fish from a man holding a fish-scoop. The shop sign indicates a magnificent view of Kanto ( the provinces situated east of […]
Totoya HOKKEI (1780-1850)
Click here to view image full size. Shows a Shinto priest carrying a firebrand and running to avoid a large wave. In his left hand he carries me, an edible seaweed which he has gathered. This ritual was carried out at night on New Year’s Eve at the Hayatomo Myojin Shrine, in northern Kyushu. The […]
Ueda KOCHO (active c1800-1830s)
Click here to view image full size. A large Shijo surimono showing a party on a boating trip. ( One of the most underrated areas of ukiyo-e.) Rare. Fine impression. The usual fold marks, otherwise good condition. Signed Kocho. Status: Sold
Totoya HOKKEI (1780 – 1850)
Click here to view image full size. A surimono showing a courtesan with attendant holding a kite with an image of Danjuro in a shibaraku role. Title: Haru no machi, “The Series of Spring Town”. Issued by the Fundarikaren Club. Their emblem is repeated on the cloth sack the attendant carries on his back. Rare: […]
Katsushika HOKUSAI (1760 – 1849)
Click here to view image full size. An exceptionally rare and very unusual koban surimono showing two onnagata actors. The only other recorded impression seems to be in Hokusai, Gian Carlo Calza, Electa, 1999, plate III.57. That has the months on the title slip of book for 1803 (and a poem top left). So this […]
Utagawa KUNISADA (1786 – 1864)
Click here to view image full size. An extremely rare surimono showing a seated beauty. Fine impression and colour. The background blind-printed with a textured pattern. Signed Gototei Kunisada ga. Status: Sold
Totoya HOKKEI (1780-1850)
Click here to view image full size. A young beauty holding a fallen kite from a series: Yanagi bantsuzuki “A Series of Willows”, sub-title: Yanagi yu “The Public Bath Willow”. Fine impression and colour. Slight signs of mounting au verso, otherwise good condition. Signed Go Hokkei. Status: Sold
Aoigaoka HOKKEI (1780 – 1850)
Click here to view image full size. A surimono from the set: Hanazono bamtsuzuki, “A Set for the Hanazono Group”. A series of at least seventeen prints published c1820s. Each image gives a positive injunction to start something on an auspicious day; as here: Ibori yoshi “A Good Day to Dig a Well”. Fine impression, […]
HOKKEI (1780 – 1850)
Click here to view image full size. A surimono from the set: Hanazono bamtsuzuki, “A Set for the Hanazono Group”. A series of at least seventeen prints published c1820s. Each image gives a positive injunction to start something on an auspicious day; as here: Nyugaku yoshi “A Good Day to Start Studying”. Fine impression. Slight […]
Aoigaoka HOKKEI (1780 – 1850)
Click here to view image full size. A surimono from the set: Hanazono bamtsuzuki, “A Set for the Hanazono Group”. A series of at least seventeen prints published c1820s. Each image gives a positive injunction to start something on an auspicious day; as here: Yudono hajine yoshi “A Good Day to Start Having a Bath”. […]
Aoigaoka HOKKEI (1780 – 1850)
Click here to view image full size. A surimono from the set: Hanazono bamtsuzuki, “A Set for the Hanazono Group”. A series of at least seventeen prints published c1820s. Each image gives a positive injunction to start something on an auspicious day; as here: Kadoide yoshi “A Good Day to Start a Journey”. Fine impression. […]
Aoigaoka HOKKEI (1780 – 1850)
Click here to view image full size. A surimono from the set: Hanazono bamtsuzuki, “A Set for the Hanazono Group”. A series of at least seventeen prints published c1820s. Each image gives a positive injunction to start something on an auspicious day; as here: Sake zukuri yoshi “A Good Day to Make Sake”. Fine impression. […]