Ichiryusai HIROSHIGE (1797-1858)
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A preparatory design for an unpublished ( ? ) triptych. Shows Genji ( ? ) watching figures on the bank of a river under a large willow tree. Other individuals in a boat. Some annotations for colour, etc. Sumi on thin paper. 14.25 x 30 in., 36 x 76 cms. Fully signed and sealed far right.
Status: Sold
Ichiryusai HIROSHIGE (1797-1858)
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A large and important preparatory study for a well known painting showing Murasaki Shikibu at Ishiyama Temple looking out to sea. The painting was in the Azabu Museum but was sold at Christies, NY, 27/10/1998, lot 110. It was illustrated in “Ukiyo-e Paintings in Japanese Collections, Azabu Museum, ” supervised by Kobayashi Tadashi, Kodansha, 1995. Sumi and extensive sumi wash with pentimenti on thin paper. 19.25 x 26 in., 49 x 67 cms.
Status: Sold
Ichiryusai HIROSHIGE (1797-1858)
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An original preparatory drawing for a published print for the set: Kokon joruri zukushi, “Collected Stories Past and Present.” Published by Sanoki, 1849-50. Shows the Barrier-Guardian Sekimori Sekibei and the Spirit of the Cherry Tree. Illustrated in Tsuneo Tamba, The Art of Hiroshige, 1965, no. 457. Sumi on thin paper with touches of red and blue. 13 x 8.75 in., 33.5 x 22 cms.
Status: Sold
Ichiryusai HIROSHIGE (1797-1858)
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An original drawing showing two beauties, one holding an umbrella, beside a river. This appears to be the first draft for the centre sheet of the famous snow scene: Beauties and Snow at the Sumida River, published by Marujin, 1848-9. Illustrated in Tsuneo Tamba, The Art of Hiroshige, 1965, no. 17. Sumi on thin paper. 14.5 x 10.5 in., 37 x 27 cms.
Status: Sold
Ichiryusai HIROSHIGE (1797-1858)
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Two original chuban drawings for an unpublished ( ? ) set showing beauties in interiors Sumi and pentimenti on thin paper. 13 x 9 in., 33.5 x 23 cms. Bottom design fully signed.
Status: Sold
Ichiryusai HIROSHIGE (1797-1858)
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An original drawing showing a beauty with umbrella on the banks of a river. Most likely a sketch for one sheet of a triptych. Sumi on thin paper. 13 x 8.5 in., 33 x 22 cms. Fully signed Hiroshige hitsu and sealed three times bottom right.
Status: Sold
Ichiryusai HIROSHIGE (1797-1858)
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An original drawing showing a party coming over the summit of a ridge with hills in the distance. Most likely a design for one sheet of a triptych. ( It is very similar to the centre sheet of a triptych Bushu Sugita-no ume bayashi published by Sanoki, c 1847-53 and may be a preliminary sketch. ) Sumi on thin paper. 13 x 9.75 in., 33.5 x 25 cms. Fully signed ( twice ) bottom right.
Status: Sold
Ichiryusai HIROSHIGE (1797-1858)
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An original drawing showing numerous female figures and children playing and collecting shellfish in an estuary. Most likely a design for a triptych. Sumi and pentimenti on thin paper. 14 x 12 in., 35 x 30 cms.
Status: Sold
Ichiryusai HIROSHIGE (1797-1858)
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An original preparatory drawing for a print. Possibly an unused design for the set: Fifty-three Paired Stations on the Tokaido Highway. ( There is another study for the set in the collection. ) A joint set together with Kunisada and Kuniyoshi published c 1845. Shows porters and below two female travellers. Sumi and pentimenti on thin paper. 9.5 x 9.75 in., 24.5 x 25 cms. Fully signed Hiroshige hitsu.
Status: Sold
Ichiryusai HIROSHIGE (1797-1858)
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An original drawing showing a full length study of a woman reading a letter. This is a copy by Hiroshige of a study by another artist. Sumi on thin paper. 14 x 7.5 in., 36 x 19 cms.
Status: Sold
Ichiryusai HIROSHIGE (1797-1858)
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An original drawing showing a full length study of a woman having just taken a bath. Sumi on thin paper with annotations for colour. 12.5 x 9.25 in., 31.5 x 23.5 cms.
Status: Sold
Ichiryusai HIROSHIGE (1797-1858)
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A large original drawing showing beauties in a boat. The river flowing away to mountains in the distance. Two other boats in background. Three small studies at top. Sumi and light red under-drawing with pentimenti on thin paper. 26 x 19 in., 66 x 47 cms. Probably a preliminary study for a painting. Indication for Hiroshige’s signature and seal at left.
Status: Sold
Ichiryusai HIROSHIGE (1797-1858)
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An extremely important original drawing for his famous triptych: Buyo Kanazawa hassho yakei, Showing an Evening View of the Eight Famous Sites at Kanazawa in Musashi Province. The print published by Tsutaya, Ansei IV/7, 1857. This was presumably worked-up from sketches of the sort Hiroshige made in small diaries he carried with him. ( See an example on this website in this section.) But before the hanshita-e was produced for the wood block. It’s interesting to compare with the finished print, which shows only minor differences and indicates how faithfully the hanshita-e draughtsmen followed Hiroshige’s design. Sumi and light blue wash on paper, 14.5 x 31 inches; 36.75 x 78.75 cms.
Surprisingly good condition. Professionally laid around edge onto board. Signed Hiroshige hitsu with red indication for Ichiryusai seal.
Status: Sold
Ichiryusai HIROSHIGE (1797-1858)
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An original sumi drawing in chu-tanzaku format on thin tissue with pentimenti probably showing an azure-winged magpie amongst cherry blossom. An almost identical drawing by Hiroshige was in my catalogue 19, 1977, Birds in Japanese Prints, item no 27. Signed Hiroshige with Hiro seal.
Status: Sold
Ichiryusai HIROSHIGE (1797-1858)
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Shows a beauty composing a letter from a set of ten prints Fukutoku gane no narikei, “Virtuous Women and the Money Tree.” Published by Aritaya Kiyoemon, c. 1847-50. The money tree branches make up the kanji characters of the sub-title, in this case Shuseki, the tree of good writing.
Very good impression, colour and condition. Signed Hiroshige ga.
Status: Sold
Utgawa HIROSHIGE (1797-1858)
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A beauty from a set: Edo meisho gosho, “Five Elements of Famous Places in Edo.” This design representing Water of Kameido, Kameido no mizu, and Metal of Ueno, Uenoji no kane. A rare set published by Kikakudo, c. 1847-52.
Very fine impression, colour and condition. Signed Hiroshige ga.
Status: Sold
Ichiryusai HIROSHIGE (1797-1858)
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A chuban triptych showing three beauties relaxing at Takanawa from a set of Eight Views of Edo. Published by Joshuya Kinzo c.1849-50. (Tamba no.146.)
Very good impression, colour and condition. Signed Hiroshige ga.
Status: Sold
Ichiryusai HIROSHIGE (1797-1858)
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One of Hiroshige’s most beautiful triptychs: Sumidagawa setchu no zu,“The Sumida River in Snow” from a series Edo meisho shiki no nagame, “Views of the Famous Places of Edo in the Four Seasons.” Shows a ferry landing on the Sumida with a beauty disembarking from a boat and another pair ready to board. Published by Maruya Jinpachi, c 1847-8. Rare.
Very good impression and colour. Horizontal centre fold, otherwise good condition. Signed Hiroshige ga.
Status: Sold
Ichiryusai HIROSHIGE (1797-1858)
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An excessively rare triptych showing the interior of a large mansion where a private performance of Kabuki interlude plays is being performed. Some of the most famous actors of the day are shown: Bando Mitsugoro III, Iwai Hanshiro V, and Ichikawa Danjuro VII. One of Hiroshige’s earliest prints published c 1818-20 when Hiroshige was 22-24 years old. Two other impressions appear to be known: The Tamba impression illustrated in The Art of Hiroshige, Tsuneo Tamba, 1965, no.122, p.58; and the Suzuki copy illustrated in Utagawa Hiroshige, Juzo Suzuki, 1970, no.86, which is the impression shown in the Memorial Exhibition of Hiroshige, Number Eighteen, Ukiyo-e Art, The Japan Ukiyo-e Society, 1968, no.1.
Good impression and colour. Some small areas of expert restoration, otherwise good condition. Signed “By special request” Hiroshige ga.
Status: Sold
Ichiryusai HIROSHIGE (1797 – 1858)
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Gishi katakiuchi no zu, “Revenge of the Loyal Retainers.” The ronin assemble before the castle of Ko no Moronao before their attack. Published 1846 by Aritaya Kiyo-e mon. Rare.
Very good impression and colour. Some edge soil. Signed Hiroshige ga.
Status: Sold
Ichiryusai HIROSHIGE (1797 – 1858)
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Taira no Kiyomori haunted by visions: As he was dying Kiyomori believed he saw hundreds of skulls in his snow-covered garden and feared them to be the remains of his victims killed during his rise to power. Published by Ibaya Kyubei c 1845. The best musha-e by Hiroshige.
Fine impression, colour and condirtion. Signed Hiroshige ga.
Status: Sold
Ichiryusai HIROSHIGE (1797-1858)
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The beach of the Dancing Girl in Harima Province from Rokuju-yo shu meisho zue, “Famous Places in the Sixty-Odd Provinces”. The set published by Koshihei between 1853-1856.
Very good early impression showing strong woodgrain. Fine colour and condition. Signed Hiroshige ga.
Status: Sold
Ichiryusai HIROSHIGE (1797-1858)
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A chuban triptych showing three beauties relaxing at Takanawa from a set of Eight Views of Edo. Published by Joshuya Kinzo c.1849-50. (Tamba no.146.)
Very good impression, colour and condition. Signed Hiroshige ga.
Status: Sold
Ichiryusai HIROSHIGE (1797-1858)
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Hyuga Province, Yudzu-no Minato from Rokuju yoshu meisho zu, “Famous Places in the sixty-Odd Provinces.” The set published by Koshimuraya Heisuke between 7/1853 and 3/1856 (this being 1856). Shows tea houses looking out over the bay.This is the extremely rare first edition.
Superb impression of the earliest state with beautiful bokashi and woodgrain showing on all blocks. Fine colour and condition. Signed Hiroshige ga.
Status: Sold
Ichiryusai HIROSHIGE (1797-1858)
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An extremely rare uncut fan from a set Shokoku meisho, “Famous Places in Various Provinces.” Musashi Yaguchi no Watashi. Although ostensibly a set of landscape prints, Hiroshige inserts popular kabuki scenes into the locations. This shows the ferryman Watashimori Tombei with his daughter O-Fune in the famous scene from the play Shinrei Yaguchi no Watashi showing them before the bell tower beside the Tama River. Published 1843-46 by Ibayakyu (Ibaya Kyubei). Another from this set is illustrated in Rupert Faulkner, Hiroshige Fan Prints, V & A, 2001, p 137, no 106 (and illustrated on the cover). Two other designs from the set are illustrated in Hiroshige Fan Prints, Unsodo, 2010, pls 132 and 133. Interestingly, the latter has identical binding holes near right edge to the example offered here. An indication that these probably came from the same sample book the publisher kept to take orders from clients. This accounts for its survival. Possibly the only impression extant.
Very fine impression and colour. Small binding holes near right edge, otherwise very good condition. Signed Hiroshige ga.
Status: Sold
Utagawa HIROSHIGE (1797-1858)
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An original preparatory drawing for an unpublished set: Toto Fujimi junigatsu, “Mount Fuji Viewed from the Eastern Capital Through the Twelve Months”, this being Mutsuki. Sumi on paper, c. 1850-55, 9.5 x 13.75 in; 24.5 x 35 cms. Shows a full ferry crossing the Sumida. Slight soil and centrefold, but generally very good condition. Ex collection Beres, sold Paris 2002, lot 182.
Status: Sold
Ichiryusai HIROSHIGE (1797-1858)
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Oi, a suburb of present day Ena City, is in the southern foothills of the central mountain range now known as the Japan Alps. Shows a group of travellers heavily protected against the snow and cold. From Kisokaido rokujukyutsugi no uchi, “Sixty-Nine Stations of the Kisokaido.” The set of seventy prints was started by Eisen and published by Hoeido in 1835, but in 1837 Hiroshige took over and completed the series with the publisher Iseya Rihei ( Kinjudo ). One of Hiroshige’s most famous designs.
Very good impression. The earliest impressions have gradation on the Kiso range in the background and in the sky. Some versions are also known with splashed gofun. Very slight centre fold. Very good colour. Signed Hiroshige ga.
Status: Sold
Ichiryusai HIROSHIGE (1797-1858)
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Nagakubo, one of the major designs from Kisokaido rokujukyutsugi no uchi, “Sixty-Nine Stations of the Kisokaido.” The set of seventy prints was started by Eisen and published by Hoeido in 1835, but in 1837 Hiroshige took over and completed the series with the publisher Iseya Rihei ( Kinjudo ). Shows travellers near and on the Wada Bridge over the Yodo River. As with most important compositions from the set, there are numerous states where the printers/publishers experimented with alternative wipings to alter the design: On some impressions the far mountains are not seen; on others they are graded-off to the right. The far rail on the bridge comes and goes and the blue gradation on the river varies. The earliest state appears to omit the mountains and have bokashi around the moon. ( Late editions also omit the mountains. )
Very good early impression with extra bokashi across the moon. Remargined on the two vertical sides, otherwise very good condition. Very good colour. Signed Hiroshige ga.
Status: Sold
Ichiryusai HIROSHIGE (1797-1858) ET AL
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Four volumes ( vols 5, 6, 8, 10 ) Ehon miyage, “Souvenirs from Edo.” The series of ten volumes was published between 1850 ( vol 1 ) to 1867 ( vol 10 ). Originally intended to be four volumes, the other books were gradually added. Volume 8 has a preface stating that Hiroshige had passed away but that he had left enough drawings to continue the series. Volume 10 was designed by Hiroshige II. Very clean good impressions with original covers and title slips. One hole on volume 6, otherwise very good condition. Each book also has the original paper slip-cases sewn on ( rare ). These have saved the covers and especially the title slips which are almost mint. Publisher Kinkodo, Kikuya Kozaburo, 1850 – 67.
Status: Sold
Ichiryusai HIROSHIGE (1797-1858)
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Shionada from Kisokaido rokujukyutsugi no uchi, “Sixty-nine Stations of the Kisokaido.” The set of seventy prints was started by Eisen and published by Hoeido in 1835, but in 1837 Hiroshige took over and completed the series with the publisher Iseya Rihei (Kinjudo). Shows boatmen and river porters in the early morning waiting for trade on the banks of the Chikuma River. The river was broad here and the ferry did not always cross. The porters would be engaged to take travellers across on platforms or even on their backs.
Fine and extremely early impression. The corner of the publisher’s seal always shows broken off, even on the earliest impressions. Fine colour. Left border trimmed, otherwise fine condition. Signed Hiroshige ga.
Status: Sold
Utagawa HIROSHIGE II (1826-1869)
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Akasaka kiribatake uchu sekikei, “Evening View of the Paulownia Plantation at Akasaka Under Rain.” This is the replacement design for Hiroshige I’s version Akasaka kiribatake for the Meisho Edo hyakkei, “One Hindred Views of Edo” published by Uoya Eikichi between 1856 and 1858. This design dated 1859. Presumably the blocks were damaged for the first composition. A fine design and superior to Hiroshige I’s.
Fine early impression with mica to sky. There is an extremely rare first edition of this print with an added gradation of yellow to square cartouche and gradation on the yellow fence at left and roofs at right. Otherwise, the impressions are the same. The gradation in the background is particularly fine here. Fine colour. Slight soil to margin, otherwise very good condition. Signed Nisei Hiroshige ga.
Status: Sold
Ichiryusai HIROSHIGE (1797-1858)
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Full moon at Takanawa. A bijin seated beside her palanquin at a tea house. A mitate set: Edo Murasaki meisho Genji, “Murasaki’s Genji in Famous Places of Edo.” Based on the Genji Monogatari with stylised clouds above and below in Yamato-e style. Published by Kinseido c1849-53. A very rare set: Late impressions being unknown.
Fine impression and colour. Light crease in left and right margin, otherwise fine
condition. Signed Hiroshige ga.
Status: Sold
Ichiryusai HIROSHIGE (1797-1858)
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The fish trap in Chikugo Province from Rokuju yoshu meisho zue, “Famous Places in the Sixty-Odd Provinces.” The set published by Koshimuraya Heisuke between 7/1853 and 3/1856 (this being 9/1855). This is the extremely rare first edition and possibly one of the genuine first pulls as it is earlier than the Pulverer first edition. See my blog.
Superb impression of the earliest state with beautiful bokashi and woodgrain showing on all blocks. Fine colour. Two small paper flaws at top, otherwise fine condition. Full margins. Signed Hiroshige ga.
Status: Sold
Tsukioka YOSHITOSHI (1839-1892)
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A vertical diptych showing Rochishin demolishing the temple gate on Mount Godai. There are conflicting versions of this event: Some suggest he gained entry to kill a gang of thieves. However, it seems that he was drunkenly staggering back to the temple after consuming a large quantity of wine and is barred entry by the monks. In a temper he demolishes the entrance and the large Buddhist guardian figure (Kongojin). The abbot dismisses him and sends him to a lesser temple. Rochishin ransui Godaisan Kongojin o uchikowasu no zu, “Picture of Rochishin in a Drunken Rage Demolishing a Guardian Statue (Kongojin) on Mount Godai.” Published by Matsui Eikichi, 1887. He figures in the Chinese classic Tales of the Water Margin, the Suikoden (jp. Suikoden) and is often referred to as the “Flower priest” because of his floral tattoos.
Very fine impression: This is the earliest state with a pigment used on the guardian’s torso that does not oxidise. (Exactly the same can be seen on the first editions of the Kinryusan Temple at Asakusa from Hiroshige’s 100 Views of Edo. Later printings use a different pigment on the huge lantern that oxidises badly.) It was also republished by Shimizuya Tsunejiro. Extensive burnishing. Fine colour. Very good condition. Signed Yoshitoshi.
Status: Available
50th Anniversary of dealing – Part 2
In the 70s and 80s I was buying prints by such artists as Hiroshige, Hokusai, and Utamaro in the UK and in France and selling them in Japan. In Japan, I was buying prints by Yoshitoshi and Kuniyoshi. At that time those artists were not so highly valued by Japanese collectors.
I travelled to Paris every ten days or so and on almost every trip I was able to find something good. A lot of prints had been exported to France in the 19th century. Japanese art and culture enjoyed great influence in France at that time, the importance of ukiyo-e for the French impressionists is well known. Now it is difficult to find good quality prints in France and the prices fetched in auctions are often prohibitive.
At the time of my early trips to Japan in the 70s, there were not so many European or American visitors to Tokyo, visitor numbers to Japan were in the low 100,000s. Now visitor numbers are approaching 25 million per annum. My first experience of central Tokyo was a revelation – a real shock of the new! Tokyo’s highrise office blocks, its modern and efficient transport system, the bullet train all made London feel quite parochial. Because I had been studying ukiyo-e, Kyoto seemed much more familiar to me – if you squinted it was like being in a Hiroshige landscape.
My days were tiring ones of walking around shops in both cities. Prints could turn up anywhere. Outside of the cities it was not unusual for me to be followed by a gaggle of children for whom I was clearly a source of curiosity and general amusement.
I attended various auctions in Japan and often I was the only foreign dealer. The auctions were smaller then and some were held in ryokans in locations such as Hakone. Some dealers wore old style Japanese clothes (montsuki kimono beneath the montsuki haori and hakuma with socks and sandals). Everyone sat on tatami mats, the prints were passed around and bids were written on slips of paper in cardboard holders which were then thrown to the auctioneer. It was considered polite to bid on every few prints even if you didn’t want them; this was a matter of some delicacy which entailed making a bid low enough so as not to buy the item, but of course not so low that it would cause offense. Payment was cash only. Nowadays the accounts are computerised but in those days we had one man who did all the accounting on an abacus and would match a computer for speed. The auction was followed by dinner and then a dip in the communal male pool with much joshing.
At that time there was little interaction between Japanese dealers (except at these small auctions) and it was quite possible to buy a print from one shop, walk down the street and sell it to another shop because the dealers never went into each other’s premises. Over the years this has changed – as has so much else. I have been in the business for so long, I find myself dealing with the sons, daughters and sometimes the grandchildren of the dealers I met when I first travelled to Japan. I think that the aptitude for dealing and most importantly a good ‘eye’ must be carried in the genes.
The modern successor to those auctions is the official dealers’ auction held a number of times a year in the centre of Tokyo. They are much larger affairs with more foreign dealers and the ‘shout bid’ system mainly being used.
I was the first dealer to actively buy and champion surimono. In 1975 I had an exhibition of them and issued several catalogues of surimono over the following years. Then, as now, in fine surimono you can find exquisite sophistication in the cutting and printing of these short run editions for various poetry groups. In the 70s these wonderful prints were surprisingly affordable. Many surimono were exported from Japan in the latter part of the 19th century when there was a big demand for them, especially in Europe. To cope with this demand, from time to time, copies of surimono were produced. I think that the reasons that other dealers had avoided surimono in those early days was because of the risk of fakes and also expertise was determined by who had the opportunity to handle the genuine items. Because of the large number exported, curiously it was easier to find authentic surimono in France than it was in Japan.
In the Part 1 of this 50th anniversary blog I wrote about the importance of a good reference library, but to really know prints you also have to hold them in your hand. When handling prints the quality of the impression and of the paper is immediately evident. Surimono were printed on the finest of hosho which is a heavier paper that could hold the calligraphy, blind printing, and the addition of gold and other metals.
Another specific area in which I had an interest, which I still have to this day, is Shijo material: books, prints and paintings. In those early days Shijo was not considered collectable or as appreciated as formal styles. This changed somewhat after the publication of Jack Hillier’s The Uninhibited Brush in 1979.
Over the years I have noticed that prints travel in circles and I occasionally buy back the same items. I was passing an antique shop in the centre of Tokyo one time when I saw a first edition Hiroshige hanging on the wall. On inspecting it I realised that I had previously owned it. It was a very fine print so I purchased it again from that antique shop. That print had travelled between Japan and Europe four times to my certain knowledge. As it was some time ago, I am not sure where it went onto when I sold it next – it could be anywhere by now, I just hope that it has been cared for and is still in good condition.
I have had the pleasure of selling to many fine collectors. Then, as now, people find pleasure in their prints in different ways. For many years I sold Hiroshiges to one collector. She was a charming, elderly lady who one day confided to me that, whilst she loved the landscapes, she didn’t really like the bright colours. She told me that she had arrived at a method to get the colour saturation just as she liked it: she placed the prints in full sun on her balcony with pebbles on each corner and left the colours to fade until she was satisfied. Whilst I remember her fondly I do wince when I think of mint condition prints being intentionally faded.
Especially at this time when fine prints are increasingly difficult to find, I think of dealers and collectors alike as custodians for the next generations. I ask that you please look after your prints sensibly. Prints should be stored in acid free paper away from light and damp. They can be displayed but should be kept away from direct sunlight and rotated occasionally; and ideally not sealed in frames so that they can breathe.
About two years ago I viewed an auction in London that had four surimono. I saw that they were purchased from me about 20 years ago. My price for these surimono, which at that time were in pristine condition, was £25. Unfortunately, they had been stored somewhere damp and their condition was very poor. If they had been well looked after and had remained in fine condition I would have happily paid £2000 each for them but, as it was, I didn’t consider buying them. Many prints have become ghosts of their original selves because they have not been sensibly looked after.
I should like to thank those of you who are collectors and those who are interested in the research that I have done over the years; warm thanks to my colleagues for their companionship and shared knowledge; and last but not least, thanks to my wife Lynne for her interest and invaluable help in the business.
In this year of the 50th anniversary of dealing I look forward to continuing to offer fine prints, paintings and books for many years to come.
Richard Kruml 2018
50th Anniversary of dealing – Part 1
Looking back on 50 years of dealing in Japanese prints, paintings and books I have much to be grateful for. From the first ukiyo-e print that I bought in 1968 to now when I have bought and sold many tens of thousands of prints. In researching specific prints I have built up my kno
wledge of the artists and the artisans involved in print production. I continue to learn about the history, culture, and society that all gave rise and shaped what we know as ukiyo-e. Handling and knowing this art of 17th to 19th century Japan has been, and continues to be, a great pleasure and privilege for me.
I was fortunate that when I began as a dealer, it was at a time when prints were readily available and there was a wave of interest in Japanese art. I came to dealing after working as a professional photographer for a few years in London in the ‘swinging 60s’. I started buying and selling prints – initially book plates, Hogarth prints, maps and caricatures, I had a stall in an antiques market and was beginning to almost make a living. In 1968, by chance, I went into a shop just off Charing Cross Road that sold Japanese antiquities. On the wall was a print of a samurai by Kuniyoshi. I was familiar with engravings and etchings but I had never seen a printing technique like that. I was so excited by the print that I paid £40 for it – an extravagant price at that time! I put it on my stall in the Antique Centre near Selfridges. It took me three years to sell it and I made a big loss. This was the beginning of my education as a Japanese print dealer. I am often asked “How do I become a dealer?” My answer is: spend money, make mistakes, and keep learning.
Fortunately, not all of my learning was as a result of expensive mistakes, my first coup was finding Hokusai’s Great Wave in an outside antique market. It looked genuine but I wasn’t certain because I had never had one before. I paid the price of £10 which by today’s standards is insignificant (an impression of the Great Wave recently sold for about £720,000) and rushed to the Westminster Central Reference Library and pulled out all the books with illustrations of the Great Wave. I quickly discovered how much the prints varied and learned that no two impressions of any woodblock print can be absolutely identical. Since that personal ‘light bulb’ moment I have built up my knowledge of many individual designs. From learning to look for small breaks in the key block and other irregularities that should be repeated on each genuine impression of the Great Wave, I have gone on to become knowledgeable about many other specific wood blocks; learning about the often significant changes made when the blocks were recut, the histories of repairs and the history of the unique wood grain as it wears with each impression. I also learned about how much the pigments can vary in different impressions. The placing and wiping of the pigment will subtly differ and runs of prints on separate days can result in different hues or even very different colours. Climate conditions at the time of printing also affected the print quality. [For more information on the techniques of woodblock printing you might be interested to refer to my Chapter: The Technique of Japanese Printmaking in Ukiyo-e to Shin hanga, The Art of Japanese Woodblock Prints, Magna Books, 1990.]
It was then that I recognised the value of a good reference library and now I have hundreds of reference books and monographs on ukiyo-e artists which I use in my cataloguing. A few of the reference books that I refer to most regularly include are in blog [Selected Reference Titles] A word of warning: whilst most books illustrate genuine impressions – not all of them do!
In the 1970s, prints were, for the most part, affordable and relatively easy to find in London and the home counties. I used to take my car, an old Morris Traveller, to make buying trips around the countryside – I always found something to buy. (I still regularly make buying trips but now it means travelling worldwide.) Prints turned up in the most unusual places: two first edition Hiroshige snow scenes were found in the lining of a large wooden trunk in Scotland; decades later, I was offered an album of Kunisada that had been found sticking out of a dustbin in Hampstead!
In the 70s there were prints to be found in the market on Portobello Road. On one occasion it took some guile to acquire the item I wanted. There was a dealer who had Japanese prints amongst other items in an antique arcade. He was well known for his reluctance to sell to other dealers. One Saturday I walked in and looked through a pile of Hokusai reproductions, all priced at £5. Amongst the reproductions there was a completely genuine Hokusai in fine condition. (It happens sometimes that a fine condition print looks almost ‘too good’ and it is assumed to be a reproduction.) I thought that he would refuse to sell it to me – knowing that I only dealt in fine prints he would be suspicious that I wished to buy a reproduction. I left the shop as nonchalantly as I could so that I could think about what to do. With a bit of astonishing good luck – walking down the street came a client of mine who at the time worked for JAL and would always come and see me on his stop over. I told him the situation and he agreed to help me. He was successful in buying the genuine Hokusai print (at the cost of a reproduction). The next time I was in the arcade and saw that dealer, I could tell by his expression that he had had time to think about the transaction and had guessed what had happened.
In the 70s Knight, Frank and Rutley (the well-known estate agents) had a saleroom just off Bond Street and had regular weekday antique sales. Japanese prints frequently came up amongst the furniture. At one of these auctions a large pile of Hiroshiges came up. I could only afford £1 per print and was outbid. It is common for dealers to have a personal history of ‘ones that got away’ – those Hiroshiges were the first for me in that category and to this day I still wish that my budget had been bigger and still wonder what happened to them.
By the late 70s I had moved my business from the antiques market into a small shared gallery off Bond Street. The gallery was on the ground floor and faced a restaurant across a narrow street. I could see diners enjoying their lunch and they could see me at work. One day a Japanese dealer came to see me. He selected a pile of prints, and after some negotiation we agreed a price. At this point in the story, the position of the restaurant diners becomes important. As the dealer prepared to pay me, he turned his back to me and (oblivious of the diners opposite), he dropped his trousers to expose long johns and somewhere between his legs a bag of cash. Across the road knives and forks froze in mid-air, all conversation and service paused while this corpulent dealer revealed a little bit more than his security arrangements.
End
You may be interested to read further reminiscences from my early years of dealing in Part 2 which will soon go live on the website together with the 50th Anniversary special update.
Selected Reference Titles
Listed here are selected titles of reference books that I refer to most regularly – this is not an exhaustive list!
Asano, Shugo and Clark, Timothy, The Passionate Art of Kitagaway Utamaro, Asahi Shimbun, 1995
Forrer, Matthi and Goncourt, Edmond de, Hokusai, Rizzoli International Publications, 1988
Gentles, Margarent O., The Clarence Buckingham Collection of Japanese Prints, Volume 2 Haranobu, Koryusai,Shigemasa, their followers and contemporaries , The Art Institute of Chicago, 1955
Gunsaulus, Helen C., The Clarence Buckingham Collection of Japanese Prints, Volume 1 The Primitives, The Art Institute of Chicago, 1955
Hillier, Jack, The uninhibited brush, Japanese Art in the Shijo Style, Hugh M. Moss Ltd, 1974
Hillier, Jack, The Art of the Japanese Book, 2 volumes, Southeby Publications, 1987
Hirano Chie, Kiyonaga A Study of His Life and Works, Harvard University Press 1939
Keyes, Roger, The Art of Surimono, Privately Published Japanese Woodblock Prints and Books in the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin, Southeby Publications, 1985
Keyes, Roger, The Art of Surimono, two volumes, Southeby Publications, 1985
Koop, Albert J., and Ianda, Hogitaro, Japanese Names and How to Read Them, Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd., 1923
Lane, Richard, Images from the Floating World, The Japanese Print Including a Dictionary of Ukiyo-e, Oxford University Press, 1978
Mitchell, C.H., The Illustrated Books of Nanga, Maruyama, Shijo and Other Related Schools of Japan, Dawson’s Book Shop, 1972
Robinson, B.W., Kuniyoshi, The Warrior Prints, Phaidon Press, 1982
Schaap, Robert, Heroes & Ghosts, Japanese Prints by Kuniyoshi 1797 – 1861, Hotei Publishing, 1998
Suzuki, Juzo, Utagawa Hiroshige, The Nihon Keizai Shimbun, 1970
Tamba, Tsuneo, The Art of Hiroshige, Asahi Shimbun, 1965
Turk, Frank A., The Prints of Japan, Arco Publications, 1966
Van den Ing, Eric and Schaap, Robert, Beauty & Violence, Japanese Prints by Yoshitoshi 1839 – 1892, Havilland Press, Society for Japanese Arts, 1992
Winter landscapes
Approximately 70% of Japan’s landscape is mountainous. In the past when travel into the mountains was difficult there was a large demand and great curiosity by the public to see those remote snow covered landscapes. Publishers and leading artists like Hiroshige and Hokusai responded to that demand by ensuring that every landscape set had at least one snow scene and, often, as in the 100 Views of Edo set, there were as many as seven.
Winter landscapes, because of their minimalist nature appeal to a modern aesthetic and are probably the most popular and expensive landscape prints to collect now. They most often show travellers in a snowy pass but we can also enjoy scenes of Edo (Tokyo) under deep snow. Tokyo’s location on the coast of the Pacific Ocean affords the city mild winters with cool spells. Snowfall does occur annually but it is sporadic and it seldom stays. Perhaps there were heavier falls one or two hundred years ago but more likely artists used snow imagery as a way to both emphasise the season and to transform both landscape and cityscape.
In ukiyo-e a number of techniques were used to suggest snow: areas of image were left blank or block cutters and printers created texture on the paper using gauffrage (blind-printing) in which the block is printed without pigment. This convincingly conveyed snow and is primarily found on prints of the Harunobu period and surimono both of which were printed using thick hosho which is ideal for blind-printing.
White pigment was also used: gofun which was prepared from powdered clam shells [calcium carbonate] or shiro prepared from white lead carbonate. Snowflakes could be cut into the blocks and printed; or gofun or shiro could be splashed from a brush onto the paper, or applied by using a right-angle pipette. It could also be applied by taking it into the mouth and spraying through the lips. Splashed pigment is also commonly used to suggest sprayed water.
The shiro usually oxidises over time so that in some prints it appears to be snowing black snow. This is the result of the print’s exposure to air borne acid pollution. Not all oxidation is unpleasant: it can give a print an attractive patina. Print collectors will have noticed another effect of oxidisation- the shiro was also mixed with red for flesh tones which is why one comes across blackened faces on some prints. Oxidation can be easily reversed by a restorer, and once professionally reversed will be stable.
Some ways to identify first and early impressions
First and early impressions best convey the intentions of the artist and publisher. High quality impressions can be identified by clear, unbroken key-block outlines, especially on any faces or title cartouches; visible wood-grain – the ‘finger print’ of every Japanese print and the depth of impression, which can often be sensed with the fingertip, especially when thicker, or deluxe hosho was used. The following techniques are indicative of and are best demonstrated on only the earliest editions: Bokashi – subtleties of careful gradation, sometimes merging colours one to another or shaded to give form and depth. Fukibokashi – the spraying of pigments or the splashing of gofun (white pigment). The addition of rice flour or mica to give sparkle to colours.
Example of a First Edition Print: Ichiryusai Hiroshige – “Ferryboats to Zenkoji Temple at Kawaguchi”
How many impressions were produced?
Dealers in ukiyo-e are often asked how many impressions were produced or what is the edition? This is a difficult question to answer because of the limit to the information available to us, however the writings of Mr Tokuno (1893)[1] and Mr Watanabe(1936)[2] give us good insight into the printing process and the number of impressions produced.
Before the 20th century, no Japanese print was numbered except to denote the chapter in a series or a station on a highway. In the 19th century mainstream print production was structured to sell as many copies as possible for modest amounts – some prints being sold then for the cost of a bowl of noodles. Ukiyo-e can be seen to have been one of the most democratic art forms and vast numbers of prints were produced.
The consensus of opinion is that ‘editions’ (ippai) of around 200 prints were pulled concurrently. The number of editions were increased, sometimes substantially, according to the popularity of the design.
Depending on handling and the choice of wood for the block and the pigments used it was possible to produce large numbers of impressions before any discernible deterioration became evident. Too many impressions taken together caused greater wear-and-tear on the blocks and it was beneficial to allow the blocks to rest for several days between impressions. Blocks saturated with pigment became sluggish and erratic in relinquishing the colour evenly. Some pigments, due to their gritty nature, caused deterioration of the blocks.
With optimum handling, printing in excess of 4,000 would have been perfectly feasible before any deleterious signs showed. It is likely that the print numbers for the most popular designs could have been in the region of 20,000. Mr Tokuno, writing in the late 19th century, states that 3,000 sheets could be produced per 8 hour day from the key-block, and around 1,200 to 1,800 from a straight forward colour block, while a colour block needing gradation gave 600 to 700. Experienced printmakers worked with great speed to generate these numbers of prints- it is estimated that to ‘pull’ a colour print it took from 15 to 25 seconds. On the other hand, Roger Keyes’ “guess” at the probable editions for verse surimono, based on a surimono in the British Museum showing a packet of surimono, is 75 to 100 impressions[3].
In the late 19th century wood block printing was competing with copper-plate engraving and photography. There is evidence to suggest that to give even greater speed and quantities, two (or perhaps more) identical designs were cut side by side on the same block and printed simultaneously[4].
[1] – T. Tokuno, chief of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing (Insetsu-Kioku) of the Japanese Ministry of Finance. The Smithsonian Institute, US National Museum, Washington, 1893. Description of the woodblock process, p. 232.
[2] – Watanabe, Catalogue of Wood-Cut Colour Prints, Tokyo 1936, p 72
[3] – Roger Keyes, The Art of Surimono, Sotheby Publications, 1985, pp 36/37, fig. 14
[4] – Comparing impressions of prints by Yoshitoshi for the Yamato Newspaper [publisher: Yamato Shimbunsha; series Kinsei Jimbutsushi, dated: 1886 – 1888] reveals discrepancies in the key-block outline and elsewhere between identical designs which could only be result of re-cutting.
Toyokuni – painted while drunk
In the current update is a painting signed “Toyokuni painted while being drunk.” This is not an isolated example: Certain artists – such as Kyosai – often signed works in this way and indeed may have benefited from a degree of inebriation to prompt inspiration. Artists often collaborated on works, especially of the Shijo school, and one can imagine the conviviality of such a cohors amicorum with food and wine being passed around. It’s difficult to think of a western comparison to this. Hand scrolls, because of their horizontal length and short height, were very suitable for joint efforts of like-minded artists or literati.
The example in this update is spontaneous – even slapdash – due to the artist’s intoxication, but this adds a charm and veracity to the subject. It also makes authentication easier, certainly of Ukiyoe subjects, as forgers tended to concentrate on copying the detailed, more sober and meticulous subjects, as these were the most highly valued.
Japanese paintings are an undervalued area of collecting. It’s possible, as here, to buy an important Hiroshige painting for the price many of his prints fetch. And one is purchasing an unique item.