Hirosada
(active 1820 - 1860)

Signature:
Actor / play:
Title: Kagamiyama Sugatausushi
Date:
Dimension: chuban diptych / standard edition
Lit.:


Impression of the deluxe edition.

Sadahiro
(active after 1850)

mameban deluxe diptych.each approx. 8 x 11 cm

Natakmura Utaemon IV (right) as the blind hero Kagekiyo and Nakamura Tamashichi I as his daughter Musume Hitomaru.

After Hirosada's chuban diptych "Megami no Kagekiyo"

Toyokuni I
(1769-1825)

Signature: Toyokuni ga
Actor / play: Matsumoto Koshiro V as Ono Kudayu; in the play Taiheiki chushin koshaku by Chikamatsu Hanji and others performed at the Nakamura-za in the 9th month of 1818.
Date: 9/1818
Publisher: Matsumura Tatsuemon
Censor's seal: Kiwame
Dimension: oban

Hokucho
(active c. 1822-1830)

Images are from two different triptychons.
more info and better pics coming soon

Hokuei
(active c.1824-1837)

more infos soon

Kiyosada
(active 1848)

Actor/Play: Jitsukawa Enzaburô I as the monkey leader Yorjiro in the play Horikawa
Signature: Kiyosada with o-no-Zo seal
Printer: Edo Jinsho (signature at left margin)
Date: 1848
Format: chuban
Lit.: Hendrick Lühl "Osaka-Holzschnitte", Harenberg, 1982, p.130

Someone had painted an additional pupil into the right eye...:



After I saw the print in "Osaka Kagami" by Jan van Doesburg I tried my best to restore the original state with watercolors:



Shigeharu
(1803-1853 / active after 1821)

Actor/Play: Nakamura Utaemon III as Kato Masakiyo in the play Keisei Asoyama Zakura,
performed at Kato (or Kado no Shibai) theatre 1/1827
Lit. : Jan van Doesburg "Osaka Kagami", Huys den Esch, The Netherlands, 1985

"January 1827: Tomoemon plays the roles of Kara no Chishima no Kami, the boatman Yoichibei and Fukagusa Jinsaku in the drama "Keisei Asoyama Zakura", which is produced by Arashi Kichinosuke in Ôsaka at the Naka no Shibai, in competition with the Kado no Shibai where the same play is staged with a different line-up."
www.kabuki21.com

© artsanddesignsjapan.com/


Hokushu
(active c.1802-1832)

Signature: Hokushu
Actor/Play: Ichikawa Ebijuro I as Yamagataya Gihei, (missing right sheet) Arashi Tomisaburo II as Musume Oume of the Chigiri, from the play Keisei Somewake Tazuna
Date: 1/1822
Publisher: Honsei / Tamaoki
(cartouche right edge) Nimai zuzuki
Format: oban tate-e 15.25" x 10.25"
Lit.: Hokushu to Toyokuni: Kamigata Edo yakusha-e meishô ten by Matsudaira, Susumu, Ikeda Bunko Library Osaka 1983

another version found at osakaprints.com

Utagawa Kunikazu
(active c.1850-60)

Dai Nihon Rokuju Yo shu
60-Odd Provinces of Japan


a.) The Province of Izumi
right: Nakamura Kanjaku II as Abe no Yasuna, left: Arashi Rikan III as Kuzu-no-Ha (Fox)
Summary of the kabuki play Ashiya Dôman Ôuchi Kagami about the fox-woman Kuzu-no-Ha.



b.) The Province of Kazusa
right: Onoe Baikô IV as Otomi, left: Nakamura Tamashichi I as Yosaburô
Deluxe edition


Signature: Kunikazu
Publisher: Ishikawaya Wasuke (Ishiwa)
Dated : c.1861
chuban yoko-e, 24,4 x 18,4 cm
Ikeda Bunko IV

Other prints from the same series part I & part II.

Utagawa Yoshiiku
(1833 - 1904)
and Gengyo (1817 - 1880)

Imayo Nazorae Genji
Modern comparison of the Tale of Genji

Chapter 11: Hana-chiru-sato / Nagoya Sanza Motoharu
Signature: Ikkeisai Yoshiiku ga, Gengyo ga
Publisher: Omiya Hisagiro
Date: c.1863-1864
oban tate-e

Sadanobu I
(1809 - 1879)

after Hiroshige

Omi hakkei / The Eight Views of Lake Biwa

Sadanobu copied the landscape from the second volume of Hiroshige's "Album of Cursive Drawings of Ryusai", c. 1850
(see print below)

Signature: Sadanobu ga
Format: album pages, approx. 15,5 x 20 cm
Lit.: Matthi Forrer "Hiroshige - Prints and Drawings", Royal Academy of Arts, London, 2007, plate 88

Hiroshige's image © Collection Pulverer and Prestel publisher

Bildunterschrift hinzufügen

ANDO HIROSHIGE
(1797 - 1858)

Arashiyama manka / Cherry Trees in Full Bloom at Arashiyama

Series: Kyoto meisho no uchi / Famous Views of Kyoto
Signature: Hiroshige ga
Publisher: Kawaguchiya Shozo (Eisendo)
Date: c.1834
Censorship seal: kiwame
Format: Oban, 24 x 37,3 cm
Lit.: Matthi Forrer "Hiroshige - Prints and Drawings", Royal Academy of Arts, London, 2007, plate 52
Gian Carlo Calza "Hiroshige: Master of Nature", Skira, 2009, p. 113 fig.148
Stephan von der Schulenburg "Helden der Bühne und Schönheiten der Nacht" Museum für Angewandte Kunst,2009, p.262 fig 214

Hirosada
(active 1820 - 1860)

Signature: Hirosada
Actors / roles (from right to left): Mimasu Daigoro IV as Fuwa Banzaemon, Arashi Rikan II as the courtesan Katsuragi, Kataoko Gado II as Nagoya Sanza, ?,?
Play: Ukiyozuka hiyoku no inazuma (Scabbards brushing in the Yoshiwara)
Publisher:
Date: c.1848
Foramt: chuban pentaptych (complete set)
Lit.: Arendie Herwig and Henk J. Herwig "Heroes of the Kabuki Stage (...)", 2005, p.74

Sadahiro
(active after 1850)

mameban deluxe tetraptych.each approx. 8 x 11 cm

Museum für Asiatische Kunst
Di 8. Juni - So 5. September 2010

Leben in den drei Metropolen.
Kyoto, Osaka, Edo

Während der rund zweihundertfünfzig Jahre währenden Friedenszeit (1600-1868), zu welcher die Shogune der Familie Tokugawa die Geschicke in Japan lenkten, entwickelten sich die drei Städte Kyoto, Osaka und Edo (heute: Tokyo) zu Metropolen.
(...)
Im Mittelpunkt der Schau steht eine lange Querrolle, auf der das bunte Leben und die Vielfalt der Waren in einer der Haupteinkaufsstraßen der Stadt zu Beginn des 19. Jahrhunderts, einer Zeit wirtschaftlicher Blüte, illustriert sind.
(...)
Szenen aus den Vergnügungsvierteln und Bilder von Handwerkern ergänzen das Bild Edos. Andere Bilder zeigen berühmte Orte in Osaka und zwei Querrollen, die hier erstmals präsentiert werden, veranschaulichen detailreich die Festprozession eines wichtigen Schreins in Kyoto.

For further informtion click here

Katsukawa Shunkō II (Shunsen)
(1762 - c.1830)
Changed his name around 1820 from Shunsen to Shunko II.
Active as ukiyo-e artist until the late 1820's.

The print depicts a story from the Chinese novel "Suikoden" (Shuihu zhuan in Chinese).
Gyôja Bushô of Seika-ken killing a tiger with his bare hands at the hill of Keiyô.

Signature: Shunko ga
Publisher: Maru-ya Jimpachi
Date: 1820's
Censor's seal: kiwame
Dimension: chuban

Kuniyoshi's famous version from 1827-1830:



The complete set of Kuniyoshi's "108 Suikoden" you can find here.

Hokuei
(active c.1824-1837)

The Onnagata actor Nakamura Matsue III as the courtesan Nami Oyogi ("swimming/floating wave") and her Kamuro (maid).

Signature: Shunkosai Hokuei
Publisher: Honya Seibei
Performed at the Naka Theatre 9/1831
Dimension: oban (right sheet of a diptych)
Lit.: Hendrick Lühl "Geishas und Kurtisanen", Harenberg 1983, p.185

Sadahiro
(active after 1850)

Eiban / mameban sheets.

I have bought the prints one by one so it is the hell of a puzzle to decide which of them belong together.
By comparing the seals, colours and the wormholes you can guess which ones may be a diptych or even a triptych.
But unless you have not found a comparable print or you have read the Kanji (I cannot read it) it is very hard to get them into the right order.
I would be thankfull for any help.

Hirosada
(active 1820 - 1860)

Signature: Hirosada
Actor / roles: (left) Jitsukawa Enzaburô I as Hata no Kawakatsu (right) Ichikawa Ebizo V as Ono no Imoko
Play: Shitenoji Garan Kagami performed at the Naka Theatre 3/1849
Publisher: ?
Foramt: chuban diptych

unknown artist

c. 1860's

8 (from 10) eiban sheets approx 11 x 7,5 cm

Incredible how much work was put into these little prints. It is a deluxe edition that shows all skills of Osaka's elaborate woodblock printing craftsmanship; blindprinting, black laquer printing for the hair, silverish mica in the sky and gold pigments even for the smallest details.

Shigeharu
(1803-1853 / active after 1821)

Nakamura Utaemon III (Shikan I) as farmer Gosaku (really Ishikawa Goemon)

Signature: Ryusai Shigeharu ga
Carver's seal: Surimono Hori Kasuke
Publisher: Hon'ya Seishichi (?)
Play: Keisei setsugekka performed at the Naka Theatre 1/1830
Right oban sheet of a diptychon, left sheet by Hokushu

A complete description of the diptychon and a translation of the poems can be found in:
Hendrick Lühl "Osaka-Holzschnitte", Harenberg, 1982, p.99f
and
C. Andrew Gerstle "Kabuki Heroes", The British Museum Press, 2005, pl.270, p.287

Yoshiyuki
(1835-1879; active circa 1856-1875)

Actor as Lady Tokiwa (mother of the great general Minamoto no Yoshitsune)

Signature: Yoshiyuki (Rokkaen)
Date: ?

Munehiro
(Active c.1848-67)

Signature: Munehiro
Actor / role: ?
Date: ?

Enjaku
(active c. 1856-1866)

Ichikawa Yonezo III as Ishii Genzo

Play: Katakiuchi ukiki no kameyama
performed at the Inari Theatre 3/1860
Format / edition: chuban, standard
Lit.: John Fiorillo / Hendrick Lühl "Enjaku - an Osaka master of the deluxe print"
Andon, by Society for Japanese Arts, 2006, Netherlands pl. 19, p.59+88

You can purchase the catalogue here.

Sadahiro
(active after 1850)

mameban deluxe triptych.each approx. 8 x 11 cm, cut from one sheet and glued together in an album.