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Hello, I acquired several surimono prints at auction some time ago, but have not managed to identify all the artists. The prints have been pasted onto card and seem to have once formed part of an album.
Can anyone tell me who the artists are and what date they may be from or anything else about them.
Any help would be much appreciated.
Regards,
David.

Sorry, images don't seem to have come out. I'll try again.
I see from looking at the message board that other people have had trouble posting images before, and someone said it may be due to # symbol being included in the file name, which I had done and would imagine is fairly common. It would be useful if this was pointed out in the Upload Image section.
There are a couple of other surimono prints I haven't been able to identify, but I don't have enough space here to post them. I will try and post these later if I all goes well with these.
Again any comments would be very much appreciated.
Regards,
David.

Hi David,

Wow! These are very interesting items!

The first surimono signed "Keisai" is by Keisai Eisen (1791-1848) depicting a Niwaka female dancer (a Yoshiwara geisha), holding fan and wooden clappers. The poem is signed Ry��tei Edo no Hananari.
This print figures in Roger Keyes' "The Art of Surimono", vol I, Dublin 1985, cat. 20, p. 61. However, the print that is depicted in this book in black & white (Chester Beatty Library, Dublin) is a so called 'Copy A' or a copy from recarved blocks, published in the 1890s. Roger Keyes mentions that an original print is in a private collection. As far I can see, details in the design of your print differ from the Copy A in Keyes' book so there is a real chance that your print is a genuine 1820s copy.
I recommend you to contact the British Museum for that matter.

Your second surimono is by the rare Osaka artist Hishikawa Kiyoharu (1808-1877, active 1820-30s), a printmaker and chiefly a book illustrator but he is also listed as a block copyist (Keyes & Mizushima, The Theatrical World of Osaka Prints, 1973, cat 222, p. 231, p. 268, p. 317 'addendum XVII). The signature reads partially "Hishikawa".
Kiyoharu hitsu" (with seal "Hishikawa").
Far more important is the fact that your print bears the red stamped seal (at the left) used between 1823 and 1831 by Tani Seik�, the master cutter and publisher of Osaka surimono (R. Keys, Tani Seik� and his circle", SJA, Andon 72-73, 2002). Your print is not in the Andon article.
Osaka surimono executed by Tani Seik� are very uncommon and sought after (however, some Copy A recuts exist also).

Again, this item will raise great interest of the scholars.

Guy.

David,

I found another copy of the Eisen surimono in the MFA Boston collection. This copy shows similarities with the 'Copy A' version in the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin that are not present in your print, so I tend to catalogue the MFA Boston print as a 1890s deluxe recut.

Please compare carefully the details of the fan (absence of ribs and mica in the MFA copy) and the execution of the kanji in the signature 'Keisai' - you will also notice slight differences in the callipraphy, the colour scheme, the costume, the sky and so on. But again, I leave it to the professionals to determine if your print is an original.

Guy.



URL Title :Eisen surimono - MFA copy

David,

The reading of the poems and the graphical representation of the depicted subject on surimono, are both equally important to get insight into the patrons background and the realization of that particular print.
In this regard, the reading of the poet's signature will bring some additional data. The signature of the poet on the Osaka surimono by Kiyoharu reads "Sangantei Riz�", i.e. an Osaka writer Igaku Riz�.

Guy.

Guy, thanks very much for all your help on these, it's most informative. I was intending to take these and some other prints to the BM at some time but came across this site and had just bought a digital camera, so thought I'd try it out first. Glad I did.
I forgot to give you the dimensions for these: the Eisen print is 21/18.5cm, and the Kiyoharu is 17.3/10.4cm.
As I said, there are a couple of other unidentified prints that I will post, they are still lives, and seem to be by the same artist. They are probably not as interesting, and are not in as good condition as the others, these each measure 12.6cm square.
There was also a nice print by Gakutei with these that I will post for your interest.
Again any information you can give on these would be much appreciated.
The reverse side of the backing cards show signs where other prints have been removed. One can only wonder what these may have been. They must havebeen part of a good collection of surimono at one time.
Regards,
David.

Guy, here is the print by Gakutei.

David,

THe Gakutei surimono is from the series "Twenty-Four Japanese Paragons of Filial Piety for the Honch� Circle" (Honch�ren honch� nij�shik�), subject: Satsuma Fuku no Uri Buntoku Jitsuroku, ca 1820, signed Gakutei and sealed Sadaoka.

The copy in the Harvard Art Museum (former Fogg Art Museum) is an original, with a hand stamped red seal after the signature. There is also a "Copy A" edition with the seal printed after the signature. Question remains if your print bears a hand stamped seal or not. You have to compare also both prints very closely to see if there are notable distinctions between the keys blocks.

I did not identify the red seal on the two other surimono, but i'll keep my eyes open.

Guy.



URL Title :Harvard Art Museum

Guy, I've had a close study of the two, and though it's very difficult to see any obvious differences in the line block, the most notable differences are that the text and cartouche are printed lower down in my version, and also some of the design on the young girl's kimono is missing (maybe the printer missed a block out). I can't see any definite impression made by the seal either, and so it probably is a later re-cut version.
Thanks for pointing out the Harvard site, a most useful resource.
Thanks once again for all your help and expertise.
Regards,
David.

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