Asianart.com | Associations | Articles | Exhibitions | Galleries


Visitors' Forum

Asian Art  Forums - Detail List
Asian Art Forums

Message Listing by Date:
Message Index | Back | Post a New Message | Search | Private Mail | FAQ
Subject:Takamizawa seal - has it ever been faked?
Posted By: L. Spencer Mon, Feb 25, 2019 IP: 2600:1700:5ac0:2700:

I purchased a print of "The Great Wave off Kanagawa" at an estate sale. I didn't like the frame. When I disassembled it, I discovered a handwritten note saying it was purchased in 1956 "by J for his mom". Upon inspection of the print, I could see it was an actual woodblock print. It also had the Takamizawa seal (circa 1927-1938). My question is can I be confident the seal IS the real Takamizawa seal? I can't imagine that being forged, but you never know. Also the print has some differences from other reproductions (vibrancy of blues, missing 3 small white dots on a wave in the upper left) I have seen on the internet.
Does anyone have any knowledge of this?

Subject:Re: Takamizawa seal - has it ever been faked?
Posted By: geo. Wed, Feb 27, 2019

Yes, you can be confident that the seal is genuine. As you noted, I don't know why anybody would fake a Takamizawa seal. He was known as the "demon of reproduction" as he had been involved in at least one rather infamous forgery scandal. His prints are always top notch though. He was a great printer.

Subject:Re: Takamizawa seal - has it ever been faked?
Posted By: Spartakos Fri, Mar 01, 2019

great find, quiet valuable iconic print.

Subject:Re: Takamizawa seal - has it ever been faked?
Posted By: Mp Sat, Aug 10, 2019

There are definitely Takamizawa fakes. Yahoo auctions frequently has bright white paper Hokusai prints for sale with the old 1930s Takamizawa seal. Fujiarts has been selling Takamizawa prints at up to 600% premiums, which is probably providing the incentive for fakes (Fujiarts prints seem to be genuine).


Asianart.com | Associations | Articles | Exhibitions | Galleries |