Utagawa Hiroshige’s woodblock print, “Ishibe”, c1847

Utagawa Hiroshige (歌川広重) (aka Hiroshige, Ando (安藤広重); Ichiryusai (一立斎); Ichiyusai (一幽斎); Ryusai (立斎); Utashige (歌重); Juemon (重右衛門); Tokubei (徳兵衛); Tokutaro (徳太郎) (1797–1858)

“Ishibe”, c1847, plate 52 from the series of 54 colour woodblock prints (the first edition from the early 1830s had 55 plates), “The 53 Stations of the Tōkaidō” (東海 道 五十 之 内, Tōkaidō gojūsan tsugi no uchi), c1847/48 edition, edited by Tsutaya Kichizō. See the full series of plates at the Internet Archive: http://www.hiroshige.org.uk/hiroshige/tokaido_kichizo/tokaido_kichizo.htm

Colour woodblock print on fine washi paper

Chūban (half ōban) size: (sheet) 18 x 25.5 cm; (plate) 16.4 x 22.4 cm

Binyon 1916 117 (Laurence Binyon 1916, “A Catalogue of Japanese & Chinese Woodcuts Preserved in the Sub-Department of Oriental Prints and Drawings in the British Museum”, London, UK, BMP)

See also the description of this print at the British Museum: http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=776891&partId=1&searchText=Utagawa+Hiroshige+&page=9  

Condition: richly-inked and well-printed impression with margins as published, but with many restorations evident verso.

I am selling this rare original print by one of the great masters of Japanese woodblock print for the total cost of AU$304 (currently US$233.56/EUR189.46/GBP166.64 at the time of posting this print) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world.

If you are interested in purchasing this small masterpiece that to my eyes—and I may be going too far with this proposal—captures something of the quiet mood of Edward Hopper’s night scenes (e.g. “Gas”, 1940 [https://www.moma.org/collection/works/80000]), please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

This print has been sold

For those unfamiliar with this print, it is part of what is arguably Utagawa Hiroshige’s most famous series of prints, “The 53 Stations of the Tōkaidō”, depicting a sequence of rest stops on the way from the Nihon Bridge in Edo to the bridge over the Sanjo at Kyoto.

This particular plate is not featured in the first edition published in the early 1830s, nevertheless, it is an original print designed by Hiroshige and was published in the Tsutaya Kichizō edition of c1847/8. Interestingly, in the first edition there were 55 plates but this number was reduced to 54 plates in the later edition as the even number (54) was logistically more practical for publication purposes.

I need to point out that Hiroshige’s series, “The 53 Stations of the Tōkaidō”, was so popular that there were many editions—Wikipedia lists 22 editions published up to 1856 (https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Die_53_Stationen_des_T%C5%8Dkaid%C5%8D_(Hoeid%C5%8D-Ausgabe)—with an equally wide range of variations in the colours used in the plates. For example, the British Museum holds a copy of this print in which the colours are surprisingly bold with the addition of bright yellow in the “blank” areas of this print and saturated turquoise marking the distance. The reason for the commercial success of the series and its many editions may be as simple as Wikipedia suggests: “[the success] was closely related to the immensely increased tourist traffic in Japan in the first decades of the 19th century, which had spawned a society ‘addicted to travel and crazy for souvenirs’” (op.cit).  No doubt this is true, but the sheer beauty and originality of the compositions should not be overlooked in understanding the popularity of the series.

Utagawa Hiroshige II’s, colour woodcut print of pear blossoms, 1866

Utagawa Hiroshige II (二代目 歌川広重 Ni-daime Utagawa Hiroshige) (1826–1869)

“Pear Trees as Rokugo” 「三十六花撰」「東都六郷梨子」 「八」, 1866 (Keiô 2), 7th month, Plate 8 from the series “Thirty-six Flowers at Famous Places in Tokyo” (aka Sanjûrokkasen), published by Tsutaya Kichizô (Kôeidô)

Color woodcut print (nishiki-e) on fine laid paper (washi), trimmed along the image borderline

Size: (trimmed vertical ôban) 32.5 x 22 cm

Signed “Kisai Risshô hitsu” (喜斎立祥筆)

Censor's seal: Tiger 7 aratame

No blockcutter's mark

改印：寅七改

彫師：なし

The Boston Museum of Fine Art offers a technical description of this print: http://www.mfa.org/collections/object/pear-blossoms-at-rokuroku-in-the-eastern-capital-t%C3%B4to-rokuroku-nashi-from-the-series-thirty-six-selected-flowers-sanj%C3%BBrokkasen-517966; see also the description of the print at the Chazen Museum of Art: http://embarkkiosk.chazen.wisc.edu/OBJ5078

Condition: the print has a subtle and significant patina of age and there are signs of handling in terms of abrasion, closed tears (supported by archival tape verso) and an area of loss (repaired verso) towards the lower edge. The print has been trimmed along the image borderline.

I am selling this beautiful old (no doubt lifetime) impression by one of the most famous of the ukiyo-e woodcut printmakers, Hiroshige II, for the total cost of AU$162 (currently US$127/EUR108.03/GBP96.46 at the time of this listing) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world.

If you are interested in purchasing this rare and very subtly coloured print, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

This print has been sold

One of the very revealing outcomes of researching artists is that I have to rethink my preconceived ideas about them. This is certainly the case when I set out on what I envisaged to be a simple mission of finding if there were alternative names for the famous ukiyo-e woodcut printmaker, Utagawa Hiroshige II.

I discovered that this artist’s original name was Suzuki Chinpei (鈴木鎮平). His name changed to Shigenobu when he became apprenticed to the legendary Utagawa Hiroshige I (歌川 広重) (aka Andō Hiroshige [ 安藤 広重] (1797–1858). To complicate the issue regarding his name, when Shigenobu was an apprentice he signed his art works with the name “Ichiryūsai mon” (i.e. "student of Ichiryūsai”—a gesture of reverence to his master’s artistic name). The “mon” component of this name was later abandoned when Shigenoby usurped his master’s artistic name and made it his own: “Ichiryūsai.” The evolution of names for the artist did not stop at this point. Suzuki Chinpei/ Shigenobu/ Ichiryūsai mon/ Ichiryūsai married Hiroshige I's daughter and, after the death of his father-in-law, he inherited the name “Hiroshige” as well as the name “Ryūsai.” The saga of name changing did not end here. Suzuki Chinpei/ Shigenobu/ Ichiryūsai mon/ Ichiryūsai/Hiroshige/Ryūsai adopted the name Kisai Risshō (aka Ryūshō) (喜斎立祥) after dissolving his marriage.

When I checked on alternative names for Hiroshige II at the British Museum (see http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/search_the_collection_database/term_details.aspx?bioId=147831), I discovered three additional names beyond those that I have already compiled into my list: Utagawa Shigenobu, Suzuki Hiroshige and Morita Chimpei.

Now I can give the list of alternative names for Hiroshige II keeping in mind that the final name is the one he chose to sign this print—“Kisai Risshô hitsu” (喜斎立祥筆):

- Suzuki Chinpei;

- Morita Chimpei

- Shigenobu

- Utagawa Shigenobu

- Ichiryūsai mon;

- Ichiryūsai;

- Suzuki Hiroshige

- Hiroshige;

- Ryūsai;

- Kisai Risshô.

If there was ever someone who would have suffered from having an identity problem I suspect that it would be Hiroshige II. I wonder what his friends called him when they were out on a night raging?

After Utagawa Hiroshige’s woodblock print, “Mutsu Province: View of Matsushima, Sight Map from Mount Tomi”, 1853–58

Recut plate after Utagawa Hiroshige [歌川広重] (aka Utagawa Hiroshige; Hiroshige, Utagawa [art name]; Hiroshige, Ando [安藤広重]; Ichiryusai [一立斎]; Ichiyusai [一幽斎]; Ryusai [立斎]; Utashige [歌重]; Juemon [重右衛門]; Tokubei [徳兵衛]; Tokutaro [徳太郎]) (1797–1858)

Recut plate after Plate 1.28: “Mutsu Province: View of Matsushima, Sight Map from Mount Tomi” (Mutsu, Matsushima fûkei, Tomiyama chôbô no ryakuzu), Edo period, 1853–58 (Kaei 6), 8th month, from the series “Famous Places in the Sixty-odd Provinces [of Japan]” ([Dai Nihon] Rokujûyoshû Meisho Zue)「六十余州名所図絵　陸奥　松島風景　富山眺望之略図」, block cut by Yokokawa Takejirô (Hori Take), published by Koshimuraya Heisuke (Koshihei).

Woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and colour on paper

Size (vertical ôban): (sheet) 36.2 x 24.2 cm; (plate) 35.6 x 23.6 cm; (image borderline) 34.5 x 22.7 cm

Transliteration of inscription: “Rokuju-yo Shu Meisho Zue”; “Hiroshige hitsu”; “Mutsu Matsushima fukei Toyama chobo no kanzu”

Recut plate of the original inscriptions:

Signed: Hiroshige hitsu (広重筆)

Censors' seals: Kinugasa, Murata, Ox 8 (衣笠、村田、丑八)

Blockcutter's mark: Hori Take (彫竹)

Binyon 1916 337 (Laurence Binyon 1916, “A Catalogue of Japanese & Chinese Woodcuts Preserved in the Sub-Department of Oriental Prints and Drawings in the British Museum”, London, UK, BMP); Ukiyo-e shûka 14 (1981), Hiroshige list, p. 249, ôban #64.66

The British Museum offers the following description of the original print (of which this is an impression from a recut plate): “Woodblock print. Rural landscape. Bird's-eye view of Matsushima bay and Mount Toyama, Mutsu province.” (http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=787973&partId=1&people=140452&peoA=140452-3-18&page=1)

See also three variation of this print at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; http://www.mfa.org/search?search_api_views_fulltext=Hiroshige++Mutsu+Province%3A+View+of+Matsushima

For the titles and numbering of Utagawa Hiroshige plates, see The Hara Yasusaburo Collection: Hiroshige Vivid: http://www.suntory.com/sma/exhibition/hiroshigelist_en.pdf  

Condition: marvellously rich, faultless impression in near pristine condition (i.e. there are no stains, foxing, tears, holes, folds or abrasions and age toning is minimal).

I am selling this stunningly rich recut copy of the original woodblock print by one of the most famous of the Japanese masters, Utagawa Hiroshige, for AU$170 (currently US$127.90/EUR114.60/GBP100.62 at the time of posting this listing) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world.

If you are interested in purchasing this recut copy of a masterwork of woodblock printing, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

This print has been sold

Before I discuss this print I need to clarify that this is a genuine woodblock COPY of Utagawa Hiroshige’s famous print executed following the same traditional printing processes. In short, it is not an original print from the hand of Hiroshige.

Hiroshige’s design for this print and the others in the same series showing views of famous places in Japan had their origins in ancient illustrations from Japanese guidebooks called meishō zue. In fact, according to Wikipedia, “at least 26 of the designs are believed to have been based on drawings from the 8-volume series of guidebooks called Sansui Kikan (Exceptional Mountain and Water Landscapes) written and illustrated by Fuchigami Kyokkō (淵上旭江) (1753–1816) published by Yanagihara Kihei from 1800–1802.”

I mention this interesting insight because the vertical format used by Hiroshige in the series was the first time that it had been employed for solely artistic purposes. Moreover, Hiroshige is likely to have appropriated this vertical format from the same source—the Meisho Zue guidebooks. Marije Jansen (2004) in “Hiroshige’s Journey in the 60-Odd Provinces Hotei” proposes that this particular format would also “have been a strong marketing ploy at the time and [offers] a better binding of such a large number of prints” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Famous_Views_of_the_Sixty-odd_Provinces). 

Beyond such practical purposes, there is one other issue that needs to be noted: the vertical format arguably gave Hiroshige greater opportunity than the traditional horizontal format to organise spatial depth as a path of critical landscape features acting as visual stepping-stones from foreground to distance.

Utagawa Hiroshige II’s woodblock, “Awa-no Naruto” (Whirlpools of the Naruto Straits in Awa Province), 1859

Utagawa Hiroshige II (aka Shigenobu) (1826–69)

“Awa-no Naruto” or “Awa naruto shinkei” (True View of the Whirlpools of Awa), 1859 (the year of the sheep), from the series, “One Hundred Views of Famous Places in the Provinces” (Shokoku meisho hyakkei) (諸国名所百景　阿波鳴門真景), published by Uoya Eikichi.

Colour woodblock print (nishiki-e) with margins (as published).

Size: Ôban Tateye; (sheet) 37.1 x 25.2 cm; (image borderline) 33.6 x 22.1 cm

Signed: “広重画” (Hiroshige ga)

Strange 63 (Edward F Strange, 1983, “Hiroshige’s Woodblock Prints”, Dover, New York, p. 193); see also the description of this print at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston: http://www.mfa.org/collections/object/true-view-of-the-whirlpools-of-awa-awa-naruto-shinkei-from-the-series-one-hundred-famous-views-in-the-various-provinces-shokoku-meisho-hyakkei-460974 

Condition: a richly coloured (i.e. not faded), crisp and well-printed impression in a good condition (i.e. there are no tears, holes, significant stains or foxing) but with signs of use in the margins and a light vertical fold (?) in the centre of the print.

I am selling this rare woodblock print expressing in a graphic way the strength of whirlpool currents on the surface of water and even those below the surface using only line, for AU$368 (currently US$272.81/EUR245.79/GBP211.12 at the time of this listing) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world.

If you are interested in purchasing this genuine woodblock print by one of the great masters, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

This print has been sold

Whirlpools reveal natural forces in landscape and Japanese artists were drawn to them. For example, in a very early post I showcased a three-panel woodblock print (see http://www.harvardartmuseums.org/art/199450) by Andō Hiroshige (安藤 広重;=) (1797–1858) featuring the same whirlpools of the Naruto Straits as shown here in this single vertical print by his son-in-law, Utagawa Hiroshige II (1826–69).

To my eyes there is an interesting difference in the way that the two famous woodblock artists perceived the swirling waters. I see Andō Hiroshige’s triptych version as a grand vista of the whirlpools with the focus being on the churning surface of the water and the spreading pattern of foam-lipped eddies. Utagawa Hiroshige II also shows the spiralling ripples of the whirlpools, but, unlike his father-in-law, here the expression water currents seems more about the energy below the surface than what is seen above. From a very personal reading of this scene, I also feel that the cropped sections of headland and the landforms in the foreground are portrayed as physical solids around which the waters flow. Or to explain this reading slightly differently, Utagawa Hiroshige II presents this landscape as if it were made of opposing forces: the yin and the yang.

Hiroshige’s woodblock, "The Garden of the Temple of Nippori”, 1857

Utagawa Hiroshige (歌川広重) (aka Ando Hiroshige [安藤広重]) (1797– 1858)

 “The Garden of the Temple of Nippori” (British Museum title: “No 14, Nippori ji-in no rinse

[日暮里寺院の林泉]), 1857, number 14 in the series “One Hundred Famous Views of Edo” (Meisho Edo Hyakkei　[名所江戸百景]) (1856–58)”, published by Uoya Eikichi

Colour woodblock print (early/original printing).

Size: Oban format (irregularly cut sheet): 36 x 23.5 cm

Inscribed (transliteration): Meisho Edo Hyakkei (series title); Hiroshige, Ando (signature); Snake 2 (date seal); No 14, Nippori ji-in no rinsen (title); Uo-Ei (publisher's seal); censor seal

Binyon 1916 401 (Laurence Binyon 1916, “A Catalogue of Japanese & Chinese Woodcuts Preserved in the Sub-Department of Oriental Prints and Drawings in the British Museum”, London, UK, BMP)

The British Museum offers the following description of this print (colour variant):

“Woodblock print.Townscape. Landscaped temple garden in spring.” (http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=787228&partId=1&searchText=Meisho+Edo+Hyakkei&page=2)

Condition: well-printed impression with strong colour. The sheet has wormholes, losses on the right side and border, old repairs to the lower-left corner and is laid onto a support sheet to stabilise the restorations.

I am selling this exceptionally beautiful and rare woodcut by one of the most famous of the landscape artists of the Ukiyoe school for AU$404 (currently US$306.10/EUR288.82/GBP244.66 at the time of posting this listing) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world.

If you are interested in purchasing this woodcut that is from the same series that inspired the Impressionists such a Van Gogh who interpreted numbers 30 and 58 in oil studies, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

This print has been sold

I am amazed at the number of colour variations that there are in the printing of this image. For example, British Museum’s copy is like a celebration of yellow and yellow-green, another I found was biased to ochre whereas here the bias is to blue-green. This is fascinating to me as each colour changes how the landscape is perceived in terms of humidity and the time of day portrayed. In this impression I sense a pending storm as the cool blue bias leans to dark tones broken with patches of light.

Regarding which is the “right’ choice of colours, I would normally be guided to the way the title cartouche is treated: if there are gradations in the background colour (i.e. “bokashi”) then I would believe that this was the artist’s choice but none of the colour variants—including the BM’s impression—has the tell-tale attribute in the cartouche. What is certain is that this print is from the time of publication from the original woodblock and is not a reprint from recut plates.

Utagawa Hiroshige (歌川 広重) aka Andō Hiroshige (安藤 広重) (1797 –1858)

“Yui, Satta-mine Oya-shirazu” 由井薩多嶺親志らず (Yui: Satta Peak, [The Coast of] Oya-shirazu), number 17 from the series, “Tokaido Gojusan Tsugi Meisho Dzuye” (五十三次名所圖會) [The Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido] aka Tate-e Tokaido [Vertically formatted], published by Tsutaya Kichizō (Kōeidō), 1855

Colour woodblock print on fine paper

Size: (sheet) 35.8 x 23.7 cm

Inscribed in upper-right blue cartouche: “由井 / 薩多嶺 / 親志らず” [Yui: Satta Peak, (The Coast of) Oya-shirazu]; upper-right red cartouche: “五十三次名所圖會　十七” [The Fifty-Three Stations: Illustrations of Famous Places, No. 17]; lower-left cartouche “廣重筆” [Brush by Hiroshige]; lower-left seal “改” [Seal of censorship]; marked with the publisher’s seal lower-left and dated [Year of the Cock, seventh month]. 

The British Museum offers the following description of this print: “Colour woodblock oban print. Travellers ascending long slope along costal cliff; ships in bay; Mt Fuji in distance. Inscribed, signed, sealed and marked.” (http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=784767&partId=1&searchText=hiroshige+no+17&page=1)

See the full set of this series at J. Noel Chiappa’s online catalogue raisonné of Hiroshige’s prints at http://www.hiroshige.org.uk/hiroshige/tokaido_tate-e/tokaido_tate-e.htm  

Condition: a variant coloured impression (compare with the copy at the British Museum, see url above) with a central vertical crease and other weak areas reinforced (verso). There are imperfections in the printing process.

I am selling this original woodblock print by the legendary Hiroshige for a total cost of AU$240 (currently US$172.44/EUR155.13/GBP117.93 at the time of posting this print) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world.

If you are interested in purchasing this rare Hiroshige featuring Mt Fuji, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

This print has been sold

This original impression by Hiroshige is a variant from the colours that he used in the first edition impression that may be seen at the British Museum. Most noticeable is the colour change from a yellow sky to the glowing red/pink one. Although the remainder of the colours in this print are much the same as those exhibited in the BM copy, the change in the colour of the sky makes a significant difference—at least to me—in how the image is seen. What I mean is perhaps best summed up by the old seaman adage: “Red sky at night, a sailor’s delight; red sky in the morning, a sailor’s warning.” Essentially, for me, the red sky of this impression casts a foreboding spell over the scene.

Beyond this gloomy viewpoint, Timothy Clark in “100 Views of Mount Fuji” (London, BMP, 2001) offers the following interesting insights into this print: “Oya-shirazu (literally, 'forgetting a parent') is the name used to describe a treacherous coastline beaten by waves where there is not even time for 'a child to look back for a parent, or a parent to look back for a child'. Until the construction of the Satta Pass by the Shogunate in 1655, the route of the Tokaido had been along the rocky shoreline at low tide, here seen partially covered by the sea. … this composition … [takes] us up the long slope that leads to the high pass. The figures are of the stereotypical 'stick-leg' kind (it almost looks as if they are on stilts) of Hiroshige's later years. Compensatory interest is created by the use of unusual, even unnatural colours… . The line of the right slope of Mt Fuji has been deliberately fragmented to suggest that it is glimpsed through the trees.”