Catalog (786)

Sparrow on Hortensia (Blue Hydrangea) (aka. A Songbird Among Hydrangea)
Size: Kotanzaku. Approximately 19.4 x 9.6 cm. 7.75 x 3.75 inches.
Date: ca. 1910.
Publisher: Matsumoto (no. 106).
Kono Bairei seal at lower left. Bairei died in 1895, which, curiously, was before Matsumoto was in business. Matsumoto has also issued this print with a proper Koson seal. Please see an example in our last photo.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Excellent. Pucker in paper...

Aoki Seiko (b. 1880)
Red Berries and Birds (aka. Waxwings)
Size: Approximately 9.75 x 4.75 inches. 24.9 x 12 cm.
Date: ca. 1910.
Publisher: Matsumoto Print Works. Cat. #368 tag on back.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: A conservator has repaired the top edge and corner.
- Rarely seen.
The Matsumoto catalog identifies the birds as kashidori, "a noisy, quarrelsome species of jay."

Takahashi Shotei (1871-1945)
Evening Glow at Sakawa Bridge - Chirimen (creped version)
Date: Pre-1936.
Size: Mitsugiri-ban. Approximately 11.5 x 5.5 inches.
Publisher: Watanabe Shozaburo.
Reference: M-9 in Shotei catalog.
Condition: Small spot above mountain. Pinhole at lower right corner.
Note: The creping process, which was popular in the early twentieth century, adds durability to the paper and tends to intensify color but also changes the dimensions of t...

Shoda Koho
Black Cat at Night
Date: 1930s.
Size: Tanzaku 13.25 x 3.125 inches.
Publisher: Hasegawa/Nishinomiya Yosaku (stamp on verso)
Artist's seal at lower right.
Reference: No. 1602
"Made in Japan" stamped on verso.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Excellent.

Kawase Hasui
Vermillion-lacquered Temple Gate in Snow
Date: 1930s.
Size: Approximately 6.125 x 4.125 inches.
Publisher: Watanabe Shozaburo
Hasui seal at lower right.
"Made in Japan" stamped on back.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Reference: Hotei Hp-48.
Condition: Excellent.

Tsuchiya Koitsu
Maiko Sea Shore
Date: 1936.
Size: Chuban. Approximately 10.75 x 7.75 inches.
Publisher: Doi Hangaten.
Printer: Yokoi. Carver: Harada. This combination of seals indicates an early postwar edition.
Reference: TK-DH-23 in Koitsu catalogue.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Back has one tape remnant at top right and a small foxing spot. Slight fading.

Kawase Hasui
Great Buddha, Kamakura (Hase Daibutsu)
Date: 1930s.
Size: 5.875 x 3.75 inches.
Hasui oval seal at lower right.
Reference: Hotei Hp-53
Condition: Back of print has paper residue at top.

Kawase Hasui
Moon at Nakanoshima, Sapporo 1933
Size: Oban. Approximately 15.25 x 10.25 inches.
Publisher: Watanabe Shozaburo. Bears the 7 mm seal, indicating a printing between 1957 and 1989.
Condition: Unframed. Very good. Slight toning and professionally reinforced left margin.
- A rare appearance of a horse in a Hasui print.

Ohara Koson
Crow on Snowy Bough
Size: Approximately 6.25 x 4.25 inches.
Date: ca. 1930s.
Unsigned as originally issued.
Publisher: Daikokuya (Matsuki Heikichi).
Reference: #48b on page 72 of Crows, Cranes and Camellias: The Natural World of Ohara Koson (Reigle Newland).
Provenance: The Robert O. Muller estate.
"Made in Japan" stamped on back.
Condition: Excellent. Never displayed.

Ohara Shoson (Koson)
Kingfisher on Snow-Covered Reeds
Size: Approximately 7 x 4.75 inches.
Date: ca. 1930s.
Shoson seal at lower left.
Publisher: Watanabe Shozaburo.
Reference: AS.13 in Crows, Cranes and Camellias: The Natural World of Ohara Koson (Reigle Newland).
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Excellent.
Note: Embossed snow on this rarely seen design.

Tsuchiya Koitsu
Twilight in Suzukawa
Publisher: Takemura
Date: 1930s.
Size: Chuban. Approximately 10.5 x 7.5 inches.
Koitsu's "Kiyoshi" seal at lower right. Takemura publisher's seal at left.
Koitsu catalog no.: TK-TM-75.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Light foxing has been cleaned and stabilized. Repairs to paper thinning in sky. Two pinholes at top corners of image.

Kawase Hasui
Farmhouse in Snow
Date: 1930s.
Print size: Approximately 6 x 4 inches.
A woodblock print tipped along its top edge to an original blank holiday card.
Publisher: Watanabe Shozaburo.
Hasui seal lower right.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Excellent.

Artist: This signature has been read "Choka" or "Akiyo". These prints are sometimes attributed to Nishimura Hodo.
Boat On a River at Night
Publisher: Takemura Hideo. Red Takemura seal at lower left
Size: 10.0 x 7.25 inches.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Scuff at upper right. Small smudge on mountain.
- A rare print similar to Shoda Koho's Hasegawa night scene, "Country Scene with Moon".

Andrew Kay Womrath (1869-1939)
Canal scene, Venice.
Paper size: Approximately 9.75 x 7.5 inches.
Artist's proof
Date:ca 1920s.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Excellent.
Womrath collaborated with Yoshijiro Urushibara (1888-1953) on our Venice by Night (Item Womrath 005).

Kawase Hasui
Evening View of a Village
Date: 1930s
Size: Koban. Approximately 7.5 x 5.0 inches.
Publisher: Watanabe Shozaburo.
"Made in Japan" stamp on verso.
Reference: Hotei #Hp-67.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Excellent. Drying pinhole at upper right corner margin.

Ohara Koson
Eagle watching small bird (Eagle with outspread wings)
This example has a Matsumoto Print Works tag on the back (#105). The ca. 1910 Matsumoto catalog lists the print as "Eagle on a Tree."
Size: Ko-tanzaku. Approximately 7.75 x 3.75 inches.
Date: ca. 1900s-1923.
Koson seal at lower right.
References: Matsumoto #105. AK.11 in Crows, Cranes and Camellias: The Natural World of Ohara Koson (Reigle Newland).
Compare with our large Ohara111 K13.2 publishe...

Hiroshige Ando (Utagawa)
The Monkey Bridge in Kai Province (Kōyō Saruhashi no zu)
Date: ca. 1841–42 This edition early 20th century.
Size: Large vertical diptych at 29.0 x 9.625 inches.
Publisher: Bears Tsutaya Kichizo seal on front. This edition published by Adachi (seal on back).
Condition: Slight creasing at top corners. A couple of faint foxing spots near bottom.

Arai Yoshimune
Pine Beach by Moonlight
From the Hasegawa Night Scenes series.
Date: 1910s. Printed 1938-1960.
Size: Chuban. Approximately 11.0 x 8.0 inches.
Publisher: Nishinomiya Yosaku
Condition: Excellent with slight waviness at top margin.
- A rarely encountered night scene design.