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Katsushika HOKUSAI (1760-1849)
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An important large brush drawing in red ink showing a full length figure wielding a stave at a cowering adversary. The standing figure has no sword or armour but is obviously a chivalrous man of great probity. The leaning attitude of the upright figure is typical of Hokusai (for example, see Theodore Bowie, Indiana University Press, 1974, The Drawings of Hokusai, no. 108) and gives movement to what otherwise would be a static pose. Red ink was frequently used by Hokusai, not just on the obvious Shoki paintings (see nos. 160-161, pages 254-5, Timothy Clark, Hokusai Beyond The Great Wave, B.M., 2017) but as underdrawing on figures and landscapes (see nos. 178-182, pages 279-283, Timothy Clark, Hokusai Beyond The Great Wave, B.M., 2017). Red ink and wash on thin Japanese paper laid onto european paper, image area 16.5 x 15.5 in; 41.5 x 39.5 cms. An area not pertinent to the design missing top right but otherwise in good condition. Provenance: Ex collection of Peggy and David Rockefeller (inventory number 23.040).
Status: Available
Utagawa KUNIYOSHI (1797-1861)
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A fine original sumi drawing (hanshita-e) of oban size for an unpublished set: Eiyu kumiuchi zu, “Collection of Heroes in Combat.” Has a date seal for 1856. Sumi and light colour with pentimenti on thin paper. Shows the protagonists Satsuma no Kami Tadanori, a famous general of the Taira Clan, in combat with Okabe Rokuyata Tadasumi of the Minamoto Clan during the Genpei wars of 1180-1185.
In extremely good condition. Signed Ichiyusai Kuniyoshi ga. Rare.
Status: Available
Utagawa KUNIYOSHI (1797-1861)
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A fine original sumi drawing (hanshita-e) of oban size for an unpublished set, c. 1856. Sumi and light colour with extensive pentimenti on thin paper. Shows two samurai in combat. In extremely good condition.
Signed Ichiyusai Kuniyoshi ga. Rare.
Status: Available
Okumura MASANOBU (1686-1764)
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An hashira-e showing Shoki, the Chinese demon queller, Chung Kwei, about to plunge a sword into an oni. Another pillar print showing Shoki from the same period is illustrated in The Clarence Buckingham Collection of Japanese Prints, The Primitives, Helen C. Gunsaulus, AIC, 1955, no. 103, p. 166. Published c. 1745. Rare.
Very good impression. A sumi-e, printed in sumi with washes of sumi applied by hand. Slight toning, otherwise very good condition.Pillar prints are often toned because they were hung and, of course, this is especially true of the earlier examples, as here. Signed Hogetsudo
Tanchosai Okumura Bunkaku Masanobu Baio ga with seal Tanchosai.
Status: Available
Utagawa HIROSHIGE (1797-1858)
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An original painting in sumi with touches of green and pale blue. Image size 50 x 17 in; 127 x 43.2 cms on paper. Shows the Mount Haruna area which also has Mount Myogi and Mount Akagi. Depicts the strange peaks surrounded by swirling mist and cloud. The region was formed more than 300,000 years ago in Gunma, eastern Honshu. Hiroshige designed a snow scene of the same area for the print set Sixty-odd Provinces of Japan published in 1853. Recently remounted and in very good condition. Signed Hiroshige ga with Ichiryusai seal.
Status: Available
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Tsukioka YOSHITOSHI (1839-1892)
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Urusa-so: Kansei nenkan shojo no fuzoku, “Looking Tiresome: The Appearance of a Virgin of the Kansei Era [1789-1801]” Shows a young woman playing with her cat from a set Thirty-two Aspects of Women published by Tsunashima Kamekichi, 1888. The set shows women of different backgrounds and occupations from the Kansei era through to the Meiji era with punning allusions to their situation or mood. One of the three best designs from the set.
Very fine impression of the first edition with blind printing on the cat. Fine colour and condition with the extra border left and top. Signed Yoshitoshi ga.
Status: Available
Kikugawa EIZAN (1787-1867)
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A vertican oban diptych showing a courtesan holding a letter between her teeth. This, and biting a towel, were considered highly erotic and the prelude to intimate relations. Her obi, which has a design of a dragon amongst clouds, is printed with extensive mica added to the grey ground.
Fine impression and colour. Minor marks, otherwise fine condition. Signed Kikugawa Eizan hitsu.
Status: Available
Utgawa HIROSHIGE (1797-1858)
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Kurodai, black sea bream (Acantho pagus schlegeli) and akadai, red bream (Pagus tumifrons) together with bamboo shoots and Japanese pepper. Poems by Tomigaki Uchiyasu and Kaoan Hoshi. From the first series of ten plus one prints published by Eijudo, c. 1832-34. The set was issued privately for a poetry group (probably the Shingyoku Circle) with judges’ names and extra poems. These prints are of the utmost rarity as probably only enough for the Circle were printed and they seldom come onto the market.
Fine, early impression before the grey block defect on the tail of the black sea bream. Fine colour. Slight centre fold (as usual), otherwise very good condition. Full size. Kruml 10b (Andon 49). Signed Ichiyusai Hiroshige.
Status: Available
Utagawa KUNIMARU (1794-1829)
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An uchiwa-e (fan print) showing summer flowers : hydrangea, peony, iris, chrysanthemum, morning glory, etc against a yellow ground. Of the utmost rarity: possibly the only recorded example. Published by Ibaya Senzaburo with date seal Bunsei 10 (1827). Ex Werner Schindler collection, seal au verso, and illustrated in Masterpieces of ukiyo-e prints from the Schindler collection, Kondo/Suzuki, Tokyo, 1985, pl. 165, p. 140.
Fine impression; very good colour and condition. Signed Kunimaru hitsu.
Status: Available
Utagawa HIROSHIGE (1797-1858)
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Nihonbashi no hakuu, “Light Rain on Nihon Bridge.” From a Toto meisho set of 21 designs published between c. 1832 and 1839 by Kikakudo. The set was subsequently enlarged. Shows figures crossing Nihonbashi in rain, one figure carries an umbrella with the publisher’s name. Warehouses in the background and a distant view of Fuji. A beautiful print and very difficult to find in early impression: The title cartouche had a plug inserted beside the bottom three characters of the title on the left. This damage seems to have occurred when the block was cut and over time the spigot gradually slipped out leaving an unprinted area (which is sometimes painted in). In the earliest impressions the plug is hardly visible (as here). Also, the publisher’s seal at the bottom right should be in red, later editions having it in black. There was also an early variant edition with a yellow sky.
Fine impression and colour. Imperceptible centre fold, also near the right edge, otherwise very good condition. Signed Hiroshige ga.
Status: Available
Utagawa HIROSHIGE II (1826-1869)
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Mino Ochiai-bashi. Mino (Noshu) Province from the “Hundred Views of Famous Places in the Provinces.” An uncompleted set of 81 prints published by Uoya Eikichi between 1859 – 1861 (this being 1861). An evening rain scene with figures making their way across the torrential Chitose River, famous for its fishing.
Very fine impression of the first edition. Fine colour and condition. Signed Hiroshige ga.
Status: Available
Utagawa KUNITORA (Active early 19th c.)
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An aiban yoko-e print from an extremely rare and fine set of prints published 1810s by Yamasho. Kunitora’s finest set. Hira bosetsu, “Evening Snow at Mount Hira” from a set Omi hakkei, “Eight Views of Omi.” The set employs strong Western elements with hatching and sinuous hills and houses. Four designs from the set are illustrated in The Western-Style Colour-Prints In Japan, Usaburo Toyama, 1936, nos. 180-183 (this design being 182). A wonderful design.
Fine impression, colour and condition. Oxidation on the title label. Signed Kunitora ga.
Status: Available
Utagawa HIROSHIGE (1797-1858)
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The great shrine at Izumo, Izumo, taisha hotohoto no zu from Rokujuyoshu meisho zue, “Famous Views in the Sixty-odd Provinces.” The set published by Koshimuraya Heisuke, 1853-6 (this being 1854). Shows a group of three young women bringing offerings to the Shinto shrine. A large cryptomeria tree in the foreground and other figures, trees and a torii in the misty background. The main deity of the shrine is Okuninushi no Okami, patron of good relationships and marriage (which probably accounts for the women’s visit). A beautiful design when well printed.
Fine early impression: Should have applied bokashi across the foreground area, as here. Fine colour. Slight vertical crease in left margin, otherwise fine condition. Signed Hiroshige hitsu.
Status: Available
Tsukioka SETTEI (1710-1786)
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A very fine large painting showing a standing beauty holding a cloth. At her feet is a fulling-block (kinuta) and several mallets. She looks skyward at the geese flying across the moon. One of the traditional symbols of autumn in Japan. There seems to have been a frisson in depicting these beauties fulling cloth near streams, as well as awabi divers and the women of Ohara collecting faggots. Settei produced many illustrated books but after around 1765 turned to painting beauties, courtesans and geishas. They are of the utmost refinement – the faces and limbs picked out in red, their costumes with areas of gold, and invariably have the wide lantern-locks (toro-bin) hairstyle. All these characteristics are found here. Full colour on paper, image size 48.75 x 18.25; 124 x 47.5 cms. Painting and mount in extremely good condition. The box comes with a registration form showing the work seems to have been put up for sale at the Tokyo Bijutsu Club in Tokyo about 70 or 80 years ago. Painted c 1770. Signed Shinten’o gihitsu (painted for amusement by Shinten’o). Seals Hokkyo Settei and Kidashi (family name).
Status: Available
Teisai HOKUBA (1771-1844)
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An original painting on silk in full colour. Image size 36.5 x 13.5 in; 92.75 x 34.25 cms. A fine painting showing beauties from different social strata: A farmer’s wife; a courtesan; an elegant wife; and a Heian period court beauty. Hokuba was one of the earliest and best of Hokusai’s pupils. A printmaker, but only of surimono, book illustrator, and, most importantly, a fine painter. Above is a kyoka poem by Ota Nanpo (1749-1823), a famous poet and fiction writer. Silk slightly browned and minimal loss of some pigment but in otherwise good condition. Old mount: Would benefit from remounting. Painted Bunsei period, c. early 1820s.
Signed Teisai Hokuba ga with seals Hoku Ba.
Status: Available
Ichiryusai HIROSHIGE (1797-1858)
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An original fan painting mounted as a scroll. Shows a gorge with the fast flowing Nagatoro River in Musashi Province. (An area in western Saitama Prefecture northwest of Tokyo.) Sumi and light blue on paper, 7 x 20.5 in; 17.75 x 52 cms. Comes with a certificate from Aoki Shinzaburo (who had a large collection of Hiroshige drawings and paintings). In good condition. Signed Hiroshige with Ryusai seal.
Status: Available
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Ogata GEKKO (1859-1920)
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A triptych showing the last stand of the Kusunoki Clan at the Battle of Shijonawate in 1348. The event took place during the Nanbokucho wars when the Kusunoki Masatsura forces of the Southern Imperial Court were attacked at Yoshino by the Northern forces led by Ko no Moroyasu. Masatsura fought valiantly against a hail of arrows, eventually succumbing and committing suicide. . Published 1883 by Matsuo Danzo (who only appears to have survived one year). There is an earlier triptych version of this by Gekko in 1878. A later and far inferior reprint was published in 1901.
Superb impression, colour and condition with extensive burnishing. Signed Gekko ga.
Status: Available
Tsukioka YOSHITOSHI (1839-1892)
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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) and four retainers seek out the demon. They inebriate him and cut off his head. However, the beast’s head still takes a bite at Raiko who avoids death by wearing the additional helmets of his followers. Published by Kiya, 1864. An early and very fine design.
Fine impression and colour with lovely partial oxidation. Slight trimming, otherwise very good condition. Signed Ikkaisai Yoshitoshi ga.
Status: Available