Catalog (122)

Unsigned Japanese Woodblock Print
Woman in Purple on Balcony
Date: Early 20th century.
Size: 11.0 x 8.5 inches.
Provenance: From the collection of Canadian missionary Sybil Courtice, who was in Japan from the early 20th century up until WWII.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Excellent.

Artist: Yamamoto (seal)
Gotemba in Snow
Bears artist's seal.
Publisher: Takemura Hideo. Bears round Takemura seal.
Date: 1930s. Collected after WWII but very likely from Takemura's pre-war stock.
Size: 5.5 x 3.5 inches.
Tipped at top to original greeting card.
Condition: Print is very good. Card is discolored.

Artist: Takahashi Tasaburo (b. 1904)
Scene: Girl Before Christmas Tree. Posed like Japanse doll on platform.
Image area: 5.5 x 3.5 inches. A woodblock print tipped at the top to original cardstock.
Date: Early 1950s.
Publisher: Kyoto Hanga-In.
Condition: Excellent. Please see photo for message inside.

Saito Hodo (aka Nishimura Hodo)
Street After Rain (雨後の街)
Date: 1920s-30s.
Size: Oban. 19.75 x 13 inches.
Publisher: Takemura Hideo.
Signed "H. Saito" by the artist.
Medium: Japanese watercolor.
Condition: Excellent.
Note: Paintings and woodblock prints variously signed as "H. Saito" (Saito Hodo) and "Nishimura Hodo" were published by Takemura Hideo. They are very likely by the same artist. Works with these signatures had similar style and at times ...

Saito Hodo (aka Nishimura Hodo)
Two women walking on a spring night
Date: 1920s-1930s.
Size: Oban. 15.5 x 10.25 inches.
Publisher: Takemura Hideo (label on back).
Signed "H. Saito" by the artist.
Medium: Japanese watercolor.
Condition: Excellent.
Note: Paintings and woodblock prints variously signed "H. Saito" (Saito Hodo) and "Nishimura Hodo" were published by Takemura Hideo. They are very likely by the same artist. Works with these signatures had similar...

Shibata Zeshin
Crows in Flight at Sunrise
Date: 1900 or earlier.
Size: Shikishiban. 9.75 x 9.25 inches.
Publisher: Matsuki Heikichi (Daikokuya).
Signed and sealed.
Edition: First/early.
Provenance: Purchased from family who acquired in Japan on a 1900 world tour.
Woodblock print is adhered to board.
Condition: Edge toning. Minor marks.

Tsukioka Kogyo (1869-1927)
Quails and Full Moon
Date: 1900 or earlier.
Size: Shikishiban. 9.75 x 9.25 inches.
Publisher: Matsuki Heikichi (Daikokuya).
Sealed.
Edition: First/early.
Provenance: Purchased from family who acquired in Japan on a 1900 world tour.
Woodblock print is adhered to board.
Condition: Edge toning. Minor marks.

Utagawa Kuniyoshi
Abalone diver resting on a rock with octopi nearby.
Date: ca 1843.
Series: No. 6 from Instructive Index of All Sorts of Proverbs (Tatoe-gusa oshie hayabiki).
Size: Oban. 14 x 9.75 inches.
Publisher: Arita-ya Seiemon.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Fading. Trimming at top edge. Hard crease at right with notches at top and bottom. Soiling.
Note: This striking print of a diver braiding her hair contains a poem by Ryukatei Ta...

Utagawa Kuniyoshi
The Ghost of Oiwa (Oiwa no Bokon)
Series: Honne Onna (lit. "Bone woman" - Female ghosts that remain obsessed their beloved).
Date ca 1847 - 48.
Size: 14 1/2 x 10 in.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: This famous print is in rough shape. Please note the holes and other issues shown in the front and back photos.

Nishimura Hodo
Hirosaki Castle in the Spring
Date: 1933.
Size: Oban. 15.625 x 10.5 inches.
Publisher: Takemura Hideo. Stamp in left margin and label on back.
Sealed by the artist at lower left.
Edition: First and only.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Upper portion toned where not covered by former matte.
Note: RARE - The only other example we could locate is in the Honolulu Museum.

Yamamoto Shoun (1870-1965)
The Old Willow Tree
(Titled: "Snow Hamlet" in 2005 Museum of Kochi exhibit catalog, A View of Nostalgic Japan and the Beauties of Those Days: An Exhibition of Shoun Yamamoto's Work)
Date: ca. 1900-1910s.
Size: Approximately 17.4 cm 11.6 cm. 6.875 x 4.5 inches.
Artist's signature and seal at lower right.
Publisher: Matsumoto (No. 446).
Condition: Excellent. Brown dash mark near signature.
An early and rarely seen design. Note: ...

Ito Yuhan
Watercolor Painting
Depicting a footbridge above a waterfall.
Date: 1930s.
Size: 13.25 x 9.75 inches.
Signed "Y. Ito" at lower left
Condition: Brilliant color. The top back has paper residue. A couple of very faint foxing marks in upper left corner.
Ito Yuhan is known for his woodblock prints that have a watercolor-like appearance.

Ishiwata Koitsu
Twilight at Imamiya Street, Choshi
Date: 1932.
This edition 1946-1957.
Size: Oban. Approximately 15.5 x 10.5 inches.
Publisher: Watanabe Shozaburo. Watanabe red 6 mm seal at lower left.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Lighter area in lower foreground. Foxing in margin and at a few spots on the back that do not show through.

Chiura Obata
Rainbow Falls, Inyo National Forest
Series: World Landscape Series - America.
Date: 1930.
Size: 17.5 by 13 inches.
Publisher: Takamizawa Color-Print Studio, Tokyo.
Medium: Woodblock print.
Condition: A conservator has reconstructed missing paper of the upper right corner margin. Other margin edge tears and losses repaired. Toned paper.

Peerless Mount Fuji
Unsigned. Artist not identified.
Date: 1934.
Size: Oban. Approximately 13.75 x 10 inches.
Origin: Issued as a folded insert to an N.Y.K. Line publication called, "Glimpses of the East". The folds are vertical.
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: A faint foxing spot at the upper left.
The composition of this print is reminiscent of the Fuji views of Tsuchiya Koitsu.

Tomioka Eisen (1864-1905)
Honmoku
Size: Approximately 18.2 x 11.6 cm. 7.25 x 4.5 inches
Date: ca. 1910.
Publisher: Matsumoto (No. 391).
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Ink dot in sky. Wave in paper where original publisher's tag is attached to the back.
The Matsumoto catalog states, "Honmoku, the old village of the present Yokohama. This little hamlet has jumped to the first rank among harbour cities in Japan since it was opened by Commodore Perr...

Tomioka Eisen
Rice Planting
Size: Approximately 18.2 x 11.6 cm. 7.25 x 4.5 inches
Date: ca. 1910.
Publisher: Matsumoto (No. 390).
Medium: Japanese woodblock print.
Condition: Excellent. Wave in paper where original publisher's tag is attached to the back.
The Matsumoto catalog states, "They are planting the young-rice in the rain, singing a charming song as they work."
An early and rarely seen design.

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."