Edo prints
| Design: | Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) | |||||
| Title: | Under the wave off Kanagawa | |||||
| Series title: | Thirty-six views of Mount Fuji | |||||
| Size: | 25.5 x 37.2 cm (ōban) | |||||
| Posthumous printing from newly cut woodblocks | ||||||
| Photography: | Jacques Commandeur |
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Originally published around 1830 by publisher Nishimuraya Yohachi.
Blind-printed names of publisher, campaign name, campaign date, designer, carver and printer of this reproduction in lower right margin:
| Character | Reading | Meaning | Translation |
| 木 | moku | wood | |
| 版 | han | block | Publisher: |
| 館 | kan | building | Mokuhankan |
| キ | ki | ||
| ツ | tu | ||
| ク | ku | ||
| ス | su | ||
| タ | ta | ||
| 丨 | a | ||
| タ | ta | ||
| 丨 | a | Kickstarter | |
| ２ | |||
| ０ | |||
| １ | |||
| ４ | |||
| 秋 | aki | autumn | Autumn 2014 |
| 絵 | e | picture | |
| 葛 | katsu | arrowroot | |
| 飾 | shika | decorate | Designer: |
| 北 | hoku | north | Katsushika |
| 斎 | sai | room | Hokusai |
| 彫 | ho(ru) | carve | |
| ブ | bu | ||
| ル | ru | ||
| ダ | da | ||
| ビ | bi | ||
| ッ | tu | Carver: | |
| ド | do | Bull David | |
| 摺 | su(ru) | rub | |
| 久 | ku | long time | |
| 保 | ho | preserve | |
| 田 | ta | rice field | |
| 憲 | ken | law | Printer: |
| 一 | ichi | one | Kubota Kenichi |
‘#30’ written in black pencil in the lower right margin, implying that I happened to be the 30th backer of David Bull’s 2014 Kickstarter campaign for the building of his new shop in the Asakusa district of Tokyo.
Artist’s signature in top left print area:
| Character | Reading | Meaning | Translation |
| 北 | hoku | north | |
| 斎 | sai | room | Drawn by |
| 改 | arata(meru) | alter | Hokusai, |
| 為 | i | change | changing |
| 一 | itsu | one | his name to Iitsu |
| 筆 | hitsu | writing brush | (meaning ‘‘One year old again’’) |
Series and print title in cartouche in top left of the print:
| Character | Reading | Meaning | Translation |
| 富 | fu | wealth | |
| 嶽 | gaku | peak | |
| 三 | san | three | |
| 十 | jū | ten | Thirty-six |
| 六 | roku | six | views of |
| 景 | kei | view | Mount Fuji |
| 神 | kami | god | |
| 奈 | na | what | |
| 川 | kawa | river | |
| 沖 | oki | open sea | |
| 浪 | nami | waves | Under the wave |
| 裏 | ura | amidst | off Kanagawa |
A copy of this wonderful reproduction carved by David Bull can be obtained here.
References
- Dalon, Laure, Nagata, Seiji, Negishi, Mika, Takemura, Makoto, Okuda, Atsuko (2014). Hokusai. Paris, Grand Palais, Galeries Nationales, 1er octobre 2014 - 18 janvier 2015. Paris: Éditions de la Réunion des musées nationaux.
- Forrer, Matthi (1991). Hokusai, Prints and Drawings. Munich: Prestel Verlag and Royal Academy of Arts, London.
- Forrer, Matthi (1994). Japanese Prints (2 volumes in slipcase). Vol. 10-11, Genève: Collections Baur.
- Forrer, Matthi (2010). Hokusai. Munich: Prestel Verlag.
- Kobayashi, Tadashi (1997). Ukiyo-e. An introduction to Japanese woodblock prints. Tokyo: Kodansha International.
- Nagata, Seiji (1999). Hokusai. Genius of the Japanese Ukiyo-e. Tokyo: Kodansha International.
Provenance: Mokuhankan