Lady Yu, the wife of Xiang Yu, the King of Chu 楚項羽妻 虞氏
Series: Military Tales of the Han and Chu (War stories of China´s So dynasty) (Kan-So gundan – 漢楚軍談) Date: ca. 1827
We see the historical Lady Yu dressed from head to toe as a Chinese warrior and holding a fearsome double-edged pole arm weapon. She wears layer upon layer of military finery and with one arm holds the bridle of a horse. The coat of the horse has been rendered with starbursts of fur in an unusual way, and the background has also been rendered in a non-ukiyo-e manner. This series might be seen as a challenge by Kunisada to Kuniyoshi, who had almost single-handedly created the new musha-e (warrior) genre. Great attention has been paid to Lady Yu’s costume, which includes complex components that are highly decorated. Her expression is one of determination, and she wears a red undergarment that circles her neck; both the horse and this garment seem to presage her ultimate sacrifice, taking her own life so that her husband can escape the enemies that surround them. Her husband thus escapes on horseback, carrying her head on the pommel of the horse.
Condition: Excellent impression; very good color and condition. Trimming, especially at top and bottom. Dimensions: ôban 36.3 x 25.3 cm
Publisher: Nishimuraya Yohachi
Signature: ôju Gototei Kunisada ga
References: See Kunisada’s World, Page 107, National Museum of Asian Art, Anne van Biema Collection, Chazen Museum of Art.
Series: Fuku Zukushi. “Customs of the East: A Collection of Fuku Words”
東風俗福つくし Date: 1889
Fukujuso is also known as an adonis flower, and its name also means fortune-longevity-plant; its deep yellow hue also suggests the wealth of gold. Here we see two women visiting a night market in winter, shopping for their New Year’s decorations. They are at the stand of a plant seller, and the woman at right is pointing towards the potted adonis flower that the vendor is holding in his left hand. This plant is traditionally considered auspicious to display in the New Year, so we see a number of the flowers in a variety of pots on display. To the right we see what look like miniature plum trees for sale. The woman at right wears a fringed shawl over her kimono, and we see an oil lamp burning at each stand. This series features many interesting details of life in the Meiji era, including the changes in dress and decor.
This amusing series elaborates on words containing the sound “Fuku”; here we also see “Huku Giusoii{u}” in Romaji. Fuku (huku) also means blessings, or good fortune.
Chikanobu is one of the few ukiyo-e artists to be the eldest son of a samurai family. He was a retainer of the Sakakibara clan of the Takada Domain. He studied first with Kuniyoshi, and then with Kunisada, and then with Kunichika. In 1868 Chikanobu actually participated in the Battle of Ueno during the Boshin War as a samurai of his domain. He resumed his career as an ukiyo-e artist around 1875.
Condition: Very good impression and condition. Excellent color. Dimensions: ôban (35.5 x 24 cm)
Publisher: Takegawa Unokichi
Signature: Yôshû Chikanobu-hitsu with his toshidama seal in red
Evening Rain at a Lakeside Tearoom
Series: Collection of Views of the Moto-Hakone Minami Mountain Villa
1935, Summer
Peaceful evening scene of a tearoom with a single glowing window that is sited on the edge of a lake. The rain has been printed with gofun, a chalk-like substance, which conveys the feeling of falling rain with accurate elegance. Six prints were commissioned by the Iwasaki family (founders of Mitsubishi) and published by Watanabe in 1935. The title of the series is embossed in the bottom margin. This is the first (and only) edition of this work. An example of this work sold at Sothebys for more than $22,000 in December of 2023 and for $21,500 in March of 2022; another example sold at Christies in March of 2025 in New York for $12,600.
Condition: Excellent impression, color and condition. Purchased in Japan, this work was never framed.
Dimensions: ôban (39.8 x 26.5 cm)
Publisher: Watanabe Shôzaburô
Literature: Narazaki #426; Hotei #368. See the Art Institute of Chicago online for the Statler example. Signature: Hasui Sealed: Kawase
Night on the Bank of the Sumida River
1907
Size: tanzaku-gata (13.5 x 36.7 cm)
This rather unprepossessing snow scene of an old-fashioned wooden boat moored in the Sumida River is momentous in the history of shin hanga. This was the very first print that Hiroaki produced for the redoubtable Watanabe Shôzaburô. It was so successful that it helped to establish the Watanabe Print Company, still during the Meiji Period. Watanabe had previously only published reprints of famous Edo Period prints, but in 1907 he decided to start a new genre that he called shinsaku hanga (non- reproduction) prints. Watanabe was only 22, but he had already opened an independent shop in Kyobashi that he called Shôbidô and had engaged Takahashi Shôtei for its first designs. In his essay on Watanabe in “Water and Shadow”, Hisao Shimizu wrote that these first prints were “characterized by refined realism enhanced by a restrained palette and delicate lines.” This and other early works were so successful that Hiroaki created almost 500 designs for Watanabe before the earthquake.
Literature:
Folk Museum of Ota City insert. Discussed in “Water and Shadow” in Hisao Shimizu’s article “The Publisher Watanabe Shôzaburô and the Birth of Shin-Hanga” page 23. Figure 4.
Lake at Hakone はこねの湖すい (Hakone no kosui)
Series: Thirty-six Views of Mt Fuji 富士三十六景 (Fuji sanju rokkei)
Date: 4/1858
The unmistakable and symmetric cone of Mount Fuji rises clear and strong above the mists as seen from Lake Ashinoko (also known as Hakone Lake) in the resort area of Hakone. Not a soul is in evidence, nor signs of human habitation, as our view features green hills atop gentle yellow cliffs. This scene is probably almost the same today, as the area remains very lightly developed. Bright yellow clouds lie just beyond Mount Fuji, so this may likely be a morning view.
Condition: Excellent impression, color and condition. Fresh and clean. Minor repaired binding holes in right margin
Dimensions: ôban (36.2 x 24.8 cm)
Publisher: Tsuta-ya Kichizô
Signature: Hiroshige ga
Botanyuki 牡丹雪 (Peony Snow Flakes)
1934
45 x 29.5 cm
A woman turns her head against the falling snow, also inviting us to admire her beauty from this terrific oblique (and artistically challenging) angle. Her visage is masterfully framed by the diagonal edge of her parasol upper left and the diagonals of her black outer robe on the lower left; her gaze pulls us in the opposite direction, creating balance. The snowflakes are indeed huge. Her black robe must have a soft, fluffy texture, as it has been printed with a soft and textured black, rather than a deep, satiny black. Oversized snowflakes like this are also known as Peony Snowflakes, as the flakes are as large as the blossoms of this flower. Following the completion of the original edition of 100 prints, the keyblock was deliberately gouged to destroy it, and a print of the defaced keyblock was included with each of the 100 prints sold in the 1930s. With the title “Bokan Yuki” (Peony Snow) printed in a soft purple on the lower margin. The blocks were carved by Ito and printed by Komatsu Wasakichi. Verso is the publisher’s limited edition cartouche printed , Ikeda hanken shoyu, hyaku mai kagiri zeppan (Ikeda, copyright; edition limited to 100). Little is known about this publisher Ikeda, but the prints he created for Kotondo in editions of 100 are of extremely high quality. Note that due to the popularity of the image, combined with its rarity, that later facsimile editions were created in the 1980s. The reprints have a large and conspicuous printer’s seal in the oversized left margin, and the printing cannot compare to this original edition. Scarce, especially in this condition.
An unusually scarce, pre-earthquake design from the series “Selection of Scenes of Japan”.
An informal fish market seems to be taking place, with a man in an apron holding up what looks to be a tuna. Other villagers gather on the beach, probably inspecting wares that were freshly delivered by the nearby fishing vessels. The small boat at left may be a ferry vessel. The morning sun is still a bright yellow, glowing behind the mountains. As Narazaki wrote: “Villagers and boat passengers gather along a coastal dune. This is the first work by Hasui that deals with a group of people, whose small forms in this composition are beautifully portrayed. A few fishing boats compose the middle ground, the spa town of Beppu and the faraway mountains are silhouetted in a purplish blue”. Beppu is one of Japan’s most famous hot spring resorts, home to more than two thousand onsen. This view seems to be from Mochigahama Beach; although the view from the sand looks much the same, urban sprawl seems to have completely covered most of the flat lands between the mountains and the sea, and this rural view that could be from hundreds of years ago has captured a charmingly pre-industrial scene that has largely disappeared. From a limited edition, verso, numbered “nine” from an edition of 300 prints.
Entrance to a teahouse in Yotsuya, Araki-cho. It is evening and we see two beauties in kimono, one exiting a traditional teahouse and one saying her goodbyes in the entryway. Against the screen above we se the silhouette of another woman. A warm and inviting glow emanates from the establishment and casts shadows onto the passageway (an alley, or yokochô). This scene is timeless, with no hints of modern architecture or dress to place the work in the 20th century. It is hard to believe that this is an alley in Shinjuku in Tokyo, now an area famous for its skyscrapers and crowds. Please note that due to the popularity of this design that there are very recent (Reiwa) editions of this work that bear a poor copy of this first edition (Doi Sadaichi) seal. Note that the paper, the colors, the quality of the printing and the seals are all very different in that reproduction edition, and that the reproduction work lacks the depth of this original, prewar edition, which was printed 90 years ago. This work also has the Tokyo Fukei seal. Also contains the “Do” watermark, upper left corner. Never framed, unusual to find in this edition and condition.
Publisher: Doi Sadaichi
Condition: Excellent impression, color and condition. Mint.
Dimensions: ôban (39.8 x 26.3 cm) Signature: Koitsu
Reference: Walker & Doi Koitsu Catalogue Raisonné TK-DH-18.
Enveloped by nature, two kimono-clad beauties admire the profusion of lotus blossoms from a stone bridge on Benten Pond in Ueno. This is from the limited edition published by Kawaguchi ca. 1930, and numbered 197/350 within the sealed stamp, verso. Note that due to the popularity of this iconic design, there exist many posthumous versions of this work that were printed in the 1980s or even more recently. The first limited edition of this work was published jointly by Kawaguchi and Sakai during their brief publishing partnership between 1929 and 1930/31. Due to the generosity and friendship of the late scholar Hisao Shimizu, this dealer has had the opportunity to examine S &K published works in all three editions–S&K, Kawaguchi alone and then the postwar editions. When compared side-by-side, the Kawaguchi editions can even be superior in printing quality–but they are certainly equal–to the S&K printed works. The postwar printings are an entirely different story, and are lacking in the depth and finesse of the early editions, and the Heisei (or later) editions are not at all comparable to the original limited editions. We may note that the pink in the lotus flowers seems to be more prominent here than in the S&K edition. An example of the S&K edition of this work was sold at Sothebys in 2021 for more than $23,000. A stunning, scarce and highly sought-after design in perfect color.
Condition: Excellent impression, color and condition. Outstanding, vibrant colors.
Publisher: Kawaguchi
Literature: N#KS-6; H#186. See Minneapolis Institute of Art, MFA Boston, VMFA, Art Institute of Chicago. Dimensions: 27.3 x 40 cm
Seal: Kawase Signature: Hasui
A little egret (Egretta garzetta) wades in the shallows, undisturbed by the downpour. Its white feathers have been printed with gofun, a matte white colorant derived from powdered shells that have been mixed with nikawa. The fine tail feather strands stand out impressively in a delicate array. The overprinted rain falls in fine, irregular sheets of grey. A floating water plant features some white flowers. With the “Made in Japan” seal, verso, indicating that this work was intended for export in the late 1920s, early 1930s.
Condition: Very good impression, color and condition.
Dimensions: 36.7 x 19 cm
Publisher: Daikokuya (original publisher; most likely here as well)
Seal: Koson Signature: Koson
Literature: Newland, Perée, & Schaap, Crows, Cranes & Camellias (2001), checklist no. K14.14, page 177 and, cat. no. 61, page 177.
Yamamoto Kansuke Wrestling a Boar 忠孝名誉奇人伝 山本勘助
Series: Stories of Remarkable Persons of Loyalty and High Reputation 忠考名誉奇人傳 (Chuko meijo kijin den)
1845
Yamamoto Kansuke wrestles an enormous boar to the ground with his bare hands. He was a 16th century samurai who was known as one of the Twenty-four Generals of Takeda Shingen. He was known as a brilliant strategist, and was famed for his exceptional bravery and fierceness. Grabbing a single tusk of the boar with both hands, Kansuke has forced the giant beast to the ground with his raw strength. We sense the immediacy of the drama, with part of his woven traveling outfit flying up in the air and his pole having just been loosed from his hand. His fierce expression is a terrific focal point, and the red eye of the helpless boar is also a dramatic touch. Grey lead pigment overlays the snow that lies thick on the ground.
According to Schaap in “Heroes & Ghosts”, Yamamoto Kansuke was one of Kuniyoshi’s favorite heroes, and the artist depicted him at least fifteen times in his woodblock prints.
A scarce and exceptional design.
Condition: Excellent impression, color and condition. Untrimmed and unbacked. Soft stain on recto that shows through a bit on the boar’s fur. Otherwise an exceptional example of this famous design.
Reference: See British Museum Collection. Robinson (1982) S35 no. 16. See “Heroes & Ghosts” (1998), number 55, page 78.
Dimensions: ôban (37.5 x 25.5 cm)
Publisher: Iseya Ichiemon.
Seal: kiri
Signature: Ichiyusai Kuniyoshi ga
Searching for the perfect gift for the art enthusiast in your life? Looking for something unique and thoughtful for the person who loves Japanese art and culture? We’ve curated a selection of works below $1000 that are certain to delight the recipient for years to come. We ship via 2-day FedEx Express, so you can have your gift in your hands quickly.
Our September online exhibition features select works by Kawase Hasui, Oda Kazuma, Kasamatsu Shiro, Ohara Koson, Takahashi Hiroaki and other modern masters. A highlight is what scholars consider to be the very first print that ushered in the fresh genre of shin hanga, (“new prints”, at the time called Shinsaku hanga). The print, titled “Night on the Bank of the Sumida River”, was published by the 22-year-old Watanabe Shôzaburo by the artist Takahashi Hiroaki in 1907. Also featured is Hachiguchi Goyo’s elegant masterpiece of a woman applying powder from 1918.
To learn more and view the exhibition, click here.
PAST ASIA WEEK NEW YORK MARCH 2025 EXHIBITION
Love of Place: The Landscapes of Kawase Hasui (1883-1957)
March 15 – 16, 2025
Exhibiting at: The Luxury Collection Midtown (formerly the Conrad), 151 W 54th Street, Sky Suite (inquire at front desk for Suite #) Asia Week Hours: 11am-6pm (otherwise by appointment)
Kawase Hasui (1883-1957) was the undisputed master of 20th century Japanese woodblock print landscapes. Over a career lasting forty years (1918-1957) the artist traveled throughout Japan, sketching and painting hundreds of scenes in every season. These were translated into woodblock prints by artisans whose now-lost expertise has never been equaled.
Hasui’s deeply rooted connection to the timeless beauty of Japan brings the viewer a distinct sense of place, whether the views are of a famous temple or an everyday village scene. His details capture a specific time of day or night as well as the exact weather and season, which combines with Hasui’s stellar design viewpoint that is unique to the artist. These images effortlessly create a nostalgic feeling for beautiful places that have been lost to development, but this nostalgia also lacks sentimentality. Similar to Hiroshige in the 19th century, his works have an effortlessly peaceful effect.
This exhibition draws from several private collections that Egenolf Gallery has helped to assemble through our decades of specializing in this artist, and we are pleased to feature early edition works in pristine condition, including a number of pre-earthquake (pre-1923) works. Landscapes by Hasui are becoming more scarce and at the same time more sought-after by collectors in both Japan and the west, leading to scarcity and still-climbing prices.
To learn more and preview the exhibition, click here.
About the Gallery
Established in 1975, Egenolf Gallery specializes in fine Japanese woodblock prints and drawings, including works by the earliest 17th century pioneers of ukiyo-e to the shin hanga masters of the 20th century. We are pleased to offer a highly curated selection of designs in exceptional condition over a broad range of prices. Our focus is providing value to our clients. Clients include museums, private collectors and dealers in the US, Europe, and Japan. First-time buyers as well as established collectors are able to buy from us with confidence, knowing that all prints and drawings are guaranteed authentic and as described.
Herbert Egenolf began dealing in Japanese prints in 1975 in Duesseldorf, Germany, following an eleven-year residency in Japan. In 1992 he invited Veronica Miller to join him in the business. After working together with Mr. Egenolf for ten years, she became the director of Egenolf Gallery following the untimely passing of Mr. Egenolf in 2002, and now is based near Los Angeles, California. In addition to our schedule of Print Fairs, viewings of prints can be arranged by appointment – contact us by phone or email.
We belong to both the International Fine Print Dealers Association (IFPDA) and the Ukiyo-e Dealers Association of Japan. Every March we participate in Asia Week, New York as well as regional Print Fairs on the West Coast.
