Horse Study. c. 1925. Oban: 10 x 15 1/2. Signed and sealed. Aoyama made a series of horses in the zen style in the 1920's - 30's. Affixed to the mat at the top and bottom margins. A fine impression with good color. $175.
Click on the title for an image.
Two Rabbits at Night. c. 1938. Woodcut printed in colors. Oban: 14 1/2 x10 (sheet 15 1/2 x 11). Publisher: Takemura Hideo (Yokahama 1926-39). Signed and sealed Hodo. "Made in Japan" seal verso. A rich impression with subtle bokashi shading, extensive gauffrage on the flowers and rabbits, gofun white pigment on the white fur. Pristine color and condition. $550.
Under the name Koson made Russo-Japanese War prints in 1904, and many small kacho prints designed by Matsuki Heikichi of Daikokiya for export. In 1912 he changed his name to Shoson and dedicated himself to paintings. In 1926 he resumed kacho hanga production. Hundreds of his prints were exported to America.
Click on the titles for images. Other images are online.
Three Plovers on a Rock, the Seaside and a Crescent Moon Behind. 1926. Oban : 14 x 9 3/8 (sheet 15 1/2 x 10 1/2). 1926. Publisher: Watanabe -- later impression. Illustrated: Newland, Crows, Cranes & Camellias, S22.1, page 199. Signed and sealed Shoson. An excellent impression with subtle bokashi shading througout, and gauffrage in the birds' feathers and in the ripples of the water. A beautiful 'kacho-e'seascape with three highly detailed plovers under a crescent moon. $350.
White Fronted Geese Flying above Reeds and Water. c. 1933. Shikishiban: 10 10/16 x 9 1/16 (sheet 10 14/16 x 9 12/16). Signed and sealed Shoson. Publisher: Watanabe Shozaburo. Illustrated: Crows, Cranes & Camellias, S11.6, p. 197. A fine impression with subtle shading and gauffrauge (embossing) in the 2 large birds' feathers. Based on the body markings, these actually appear to be mallard ducks not geese. Pristine color and condition. $500.
Toyoharu Kunichika. 1835-1900.
Kunichika was a pupil first of Chikanobu, then of Kunisada.
For small imges, click on Kunichika; for large images, click on the titles.
Kabuki Actors: Ichikawa and Iwai. c. 1860. 14 x 9 1/2 (sheet 14 x 8 3/4). Good color and condition. Soiling in the bottom right-hand; slight toning. $200.
Kabuki Actors. c. 1864. Oban diptych (14 1/8 x 18 3/4. Vivid color; 2 repaired tears in the top margin. $400.
Kabuki Actors Iwai and Ichikawa 1864. Oban diptych (14 1/8 x 19 1/4. Good color and condition. $500.
Kabuki Triptych. The actors are, loft to right, Kino Kuniya Bunzaemon, Suberoku, Miuyra Akemaki. 1865. Each sheet 9 1/2 x 14 x 9 1/2. Good color, paper losses at sheet edges. Provenance: Ulfert Wilke. $950.
Click on the title for an image.
Kataoaka Gado II at Hogo. c. 1850. 14 x 9 1/4 (14 1/2 x 9 5/8). Excellent color and condition. $300.
Click on the titles for images.
After the Bath. 1844. Kakemono-e: 26 1/2 x 8 3/8. Series: Pairing beautiful Women with Kimono Fabrics. Appropriately mounted on black silk. Censor's seal: Yoshimura. Publisher: Aritaya Kiyoemon. Signed Oju Kunisada. $1,250.
Shirabioshi (Temple Dancer). c. 1840. Kakemono-e. 26 1/4 x 8 1/2. Publisher and signature partially trimmed. Signed 'oju Kochoro Kunisada ga,' Mounted on black silk in the manner of a Japanese watercolor. Margins trimmed. $1,250.
Iwai Hanshiro VI (bottom) and Ichikawa Ebizo V as ? (first kanji unread) Nakamachi Kazusaya no Akushichi and Yuranosuke Oizuya no Jiro. Play not identified. c. 1840. two left sheets of a L-shaped kabuki triptych. Publisher:Izumiya Ichibei . Signature:Gototei Kunisada ga (drawn by Gototei Kunisada). $250.
Onoe Eizaburo III and Iwai Shijaku I. Onoe Eizaburo III and Iwai Shijaku I as churo (court lady) Onoe as the meshitsukai (maid) Ohatsu in 'Iwao no Hananami no Shiraishi', performed at the Kawarazaki theatre in 3/1842. Vertical obans - the center and right sheet of a kabuki triptych. Publisher: Yamamotoya Heikichi. Signature: Gototei Kunisada ga (drawn by Gototei Kunisada). $250.
Actors in Different Roles Making a Trip to the Yoshiwara. Date: 1/1857. Oban triptych. Publisher: Fujiokaya Keijiro. Signature: Baigoro Kunisada ga ( Kunisada II). $575.
Metal (Kane). Series: Select Five Elements (Mitate go gyô) Date: 1852. Oban triptych. Series: Genji Monogatari. Publisher: Sano-ya Kihei (Sanoki). Artist's seals: Ichiyusai Kuniyoshi ga and Kiri (Paulownia imperialis). Excellent color and condition. $1,600.
Click on the title for an image.
Cat and Rat Beneath a Crescent Moon. Vertical oban. Signed "Kyosai ga." Excellent color and condition. $950.
Each $50.
1. Cherry Blossoms (8 x 3 7/16). 2. Swallows (8 x 3 7/16). 3. Flying Fish (8 x 3 1/2). $50 each.
4. Herons (8 x 3 1/2). 5. Bird trap (8 x 3 1/2). 6. Fantails (8 x 3 7/16). $50 each.
13. Torii (8 x 3 7/16). 14. Bamboo (8 x 3 7/16). $50 each.
All miniature prints are $50 each.
Click on the title for an image.
February -- Orchid. (Nigatsu - Ranjo no saku). 1956. Woodcut with hand-applied color. 17 x 13 (sheet 18 1/4 x 21 1/2). Series: Calender in the Mood of the Tea Ceremony. Signed in pencil "Munakata" and sealed in red Hogan Muna Siko -- sumizuri-e. On the full sheet with deckle edges. $7,500.
A woodcut calender of twleve images was made for the Urasenke tea ceremony school, which reproduced one image each month in its magazine Tanko. Most of the months, including February, are represented by examples from nature traditionally associated with the season. Illustrated: Sori Yangai, The Woodblock and the Artist. The Life and Works of Shiko Munakata.
Click on the title for an image.
Heroine Osan in Daikyoji Mukashi-Goyomi. c. 1923. Dai oban. Image: 15 3/8 x 7 7/8 (sheet 17 3/4 x 11). Series: Complete Works of Chikamatsu. Publisher: Nishima. Printed in tones of grey and beige. A sensitive study of a young woman. $950.
Click on the title for an image.
[Monkey Business]. Vertical oban. Signed and sealed "Seiho." Excellent color and condition. $950.
Jun'ichiro Sekino was born in Aomori. From childhood, he knew Munakata Shiko, 11 years his senior. He studied etching, oil painting an drawing in Kyoto. He studied woodblock printmaking with Onchi Koshiro and Maekawa Swnpan. He was a prolific printmaker, who styled ranged from semi-abstract to detailed portraiture. In 1959 he started a series of prints, The Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido (Eastern Sea Road), and completed the series in 1974. In 1975, after completion of the series, the received he Ministry of Education Award for his outstanding achievement "in using every possible technique in woodblock printing, Japanese traditional art, and the recreation of the old fifty-three stations on the Tokaido highway in present-day light."
Click on the title for an image.
Okitsu on the Tokaido. c. 1953. Woodcut. 13 7/8 x x 18 (sheet 16 7/8 x 18) . Series: The New 53 Stations of the Tokaido. Signed in watercolor in the image. Printed on paper watermarked "Jun Sekino. Framed. $750.
Click on the title for an image.
Mt. Fuji from Miho. c. 1920-30. Woodcut printed in colors. Watanabe 1936 catalogue 228; shotei.com M28. Tanzaku: 14 3/4 x 6 3/8 (sheet 15 x 6 1/2). Signed and sealed "Hiroaki." A fine impression with bokashi shading throughout, and gauffrage on the pine trees and boat. Excellent color and condition. $475.
Click on the title for an image.
Owl on a Branch. Woodcut. 14 5/8 x 6 3/8 (14 7/8 x 6 5/8). Sealed in the image. $275.
Click on the title for an image.
Restaurant Selling Sweet Rice Dumplings. c. 1820. 15 x 10 1/4 (sheet 15 5/8 x 10 5/8). Good condition and color. Some surface soiling. 1 wormage area above the right foot. $750.
Shunshô first studied painting, and then turned to woodblocks. His early prints, influenced by Harunobu, depict bijin; but from the 1760's he concentrated on portraits of actors. His most important contribution to the genre was his widely influential 'nise-e' ("likeness painting") or 'nigao' ("likenesses"), which were stylized but accurate facial likenesses of actors. These introduced a greater measure of realism and individuation into ukiyo-e actor portraits.
Click on the title for an image.
The Actor Otani Hiroyemon II. c. 1780. Hosoban: 12 5/16 x 5 7/8. Signed "Shunshô ga." Good color and condition; imperfect color in the ground. $1,750
Click on the title for an image.
Lake Biwa Viewed at Medura Temple. c. 1950. Japanese woodblock print. Shishikiban: 10 1/4 x 11 3/8. Series: New Eight Views of Oomi, #5. Printer: Uchida. Excellent color and condition. Signed and sealed. $150.
Sawarabi. Date: 12/1852. Series "Faithful depictions of the Figure of the Shining Prince", chapter 48. Horizontal oban. 9 1/4 x 13 1/2 (9 7/8 x 14 5/16). censor seals: Kinugasa, Murata. Publisher. Izumiya Ichibei. Center fold; good color and impression. Signed: Toyokuni ga. $125.
Hatsune: First Warbler. Date: c. 1847. Vertical obans, left and right sheet of a Genji triptych. Series: Tosei bijin furyu asobi ( Fashionable beauties in popular distractions). No print title. Publisher: Maruya Kiyojiro. Censor seals: Kinugasa and Yoshimura. Red Toshidame seal. Signature: Kochoro Toyokuni ga. $300.
[Actors and Full Moon.] Date: 6/1855. Vertical obans, center and right sheet of a Genji triptych. Series "Atsu Mitsuru Genji" ("Atsu Mitsuro" is a only a name). Print title unread. Publisher: Yamadaya Shojiro. Carver seal: hori Take. Signed: Toyokuni ga. $300.
From the left, Bando Muraemon I and Kawarazaki Gonjuro I as banto (= clerk) Gonkuro and Ushiwaka Denji in 'Edo zakura Kiyomizu Seigen' . The play was performed at the Ichimura theatre. Date: 3/1853. Right sheet of a kabuki diptych. Vertical oban: 14 1/8 x 9 3/4 (sheet 14 5/8 x 10.) Publisher: Minatoya Kohei. Excellent color and condition. $100.
Ichikawa Kodanji IV as Danshichi Kurobei in 'Hanashobu otoko kagami'. The play was performed at the Nakamura theatre. Date: 4/1855. Right sheet of a kabuki diptych. Vertical oban. 14 3/8 x 9 3/4 (image and sheet). Censor seals: Kinugasa, Murata. Publisher: Tsutaya Kichizo. Excellent color. Paper losses in margins, 1 small hole beneath the hands holding the sword hilt. $95.
From the left, Sawamura Tossho II and Kawarazaki Gonjuro I as Kageyama Shigenojo (?), Yaegaki Monzo in "'Kosode Soga azami no ironui'. Performed at the Ichimura theatre. 1859. Vertical oban diptych (14 1/2 x 20). Three stains in lower margins, 3 small paper losses in left-hand margin. $450.
Suketakaya Takasuke III as kabu (= subordinate/clerk) Hatsuhei in 'Hanamo Yoshida Iwao no Matsuwaka'. Performed at the Ichimura theatre. Date 3/1853. Center sheet of a kabuki triptych. Vertical oban. 13 1/2 x 9 1/4 (image and sheet). Excellent color and condition. Censor seals: Mera, Watanabe. Publisher: Tsujiokaya Bunsuke. $125.
Date: 1852.
Publisher: Tsujioka Bunsuke.
Size: vertical oban.
This is considered Kunisada's best series of actor bust portraits.
For images, click on Tokaido.
Asakasa, Sawai. Excellent color, good condition. $225.
Chiryu. Printed with gauffrage in the white part of the robe. Good color, impression and condition, apart from minor soiling, less pronounced than in the image. $250.
Fujikawa. Excellent color and condition. 300.
Futakawa Excellent color, impression and condition. $275.
Hodogaya. Excellent color, impression and condition. $350.
Ishibe.Excellent color, impression and condition. $350.
Ishiyakushi. Fine color. Fair condition -- two small stains in the top, small paper losses, 1 in top and 2 in bottom margins. $125.
Kawasaki Fine color. Fair condition -- wormage and paper losses in the arm, 3 losses in the sky. $125.
Kusatsu. Very good color, impression and condition. $275.
Kyoto. ood color, impression and condition. Some surface soiling. $225. Mishima. excellent color and impression. Slight soiling and creasing. $225.
Nihombashi. Fair color, poor condition: paper losses, soiling. $150.
Numazu. Excellent color and condition. $350.
Odawara Good color. and condition. $250. Another impression with uneven inking in the sky and a small tear in the lower margin, $200.
Okazaki. Good color and condition. Some printing folds in the face and arms. $300.
Sakanoshita Good color and condition. $225.
Seki. Good color and condition. Slight soiling in the neck. $275.
Shinagawa. Good color. Several small holes in top sky and margin, paper loss on lower margin, printing folds. $125.
Shono. Good color. Several small holes in top margin, paper loss on lower maring, printing folds. $175.
Totsuka. Good color. Image loss to the left of the man's shoulder, one ink stain in the sky, 1 pinhole in the arm,slight soiling. One pinhole in the arm. $275
Tsuchiyama. Good color and condition. . $300.
Yokkachi Good color and condition. $250.
Yoshiwara. Excellent color and condition. $300.
Click on the title for an image.
Kagamijishi - Lion Dance. c. 1941. Oban: 15 3/4 x 10 5/8 (sheet 17 5/8 x 11 5/8). Signature: Sadanobu. Seal: Ukiyoe-Dakumi. Publisher: Uchida with his copyright. Printed on the full sheet of paper countermarked Uchida. $250.
Rearing Horse. Woodcut printed in colors. 13 1/2 x 10 (image). Sealed, upper right; signed in pencil, lower right, pencil signed. One of a series of four woodcuts of horses. Archivally framed and glazed. $250.
White Lilies. Woodcut printed in colors. 15 3/4 x 10 1/2 (17 1/2 x 12 3/8). Signed and annotated "No. 35" in pencil. A fine impression with good color, printed on Japanese mulberry paper. $975.
[Courtesan, Her Son, and a Curious Client].
c. 1824. Vertical oban. 13 7/8 x 9 1/4. Publisher: Mori-ya Jihei (Mori-Ji) Kinshindo. Traces of fold marks (the print had been folded into quarters). Signed: Utamaro. $950.
Click on the titles for images.
The Adoration of the Shepherds.1961. Color dye stencil. 21 x 14 (sheet 22 x 30). Edition 200, #24. Printed on crumpled, hand-made paper on the full sheet with deckle edges. Signed and numbered in pencil. $1,750.
Hope. 1961. Color dye stencil. 20 1/2 x 17 5/7 (sheet 25 x 23). Edition 50, #16. Signed, dated and numbered in pencil. Printed on crumpled, hand-made paper on the full sheet with deckle edges. $1,500. Oomi, #5. Printer: Uchida. Excellent color and condition. Signed and sealed. $1,750.
Click on the titles for images.
Evening After Rain. 1926. Yoshida 39. Oban: 9 3/4 x 14 3/4 (sheet 10 1/2 x 15 1/2). First Inland Sea series. Signatures: Yoshida in brush, artist's seal Hiroshi. Hiroshi Yoshida in pencil on the lower margin. Publisher: Jizuri seal (self printed). Signed and titled in pencil. $2,500.
Urayasu. 1951. Oban: 15 5/8 x 10 1/2. Signed in pencil; stamped title. Urayasu is in Chiba prefecture. Fine color and condition. $650.
This file was updated December 17, 2009.
To order, to report broken links or to be placed on the email list, please contact Jane Allinson (allinson@earthlink.net) or send a fax to (860 ) 429 2825.