Shin Hanga prints
| Design: | Tsuchiya Kōitsu (1870-1949) | |||||
| Title: | Nezu Shrine | |||||
| Size: | 36.3 x 24.3 cm (ōban) | |||||
| Lifetime reprinting from the original woodblocks | ||||||
| Photography: | Jacques Commandeur |
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Watermark in upper left-hand margin corner consisting of the kanji 土 pronounced as do - the first character of the publisher’s name Doi (土井) - located in the center of a surrounding circle.
Print title and original publishing date in right margin:
| Character | Reading | Meaning | Translation |
| 根 | ne | origin | |
| 津 | tsu | ferry | |
| 神 | jin | god | |
| 社 | sha | shrine | Nezu shrine |
| 昭 | shō | clear | |
| 和 | wa | peace | |
| 九 | kyū | nine | |
| 年 | nen | year | Made in |
| 十 | jū | ten | the 12th month of |
| 二 | ni | two | the 9th year of |
| 月 | gatsu | month | the Shōwa era |
| 作 | saku | make | (i.e., December 1934) |
Publisher seal K24-DG-It-Id (see Walker and Doi, 2008) in left margin:
| Character | Reading | Meaning | Translation |
| 版 | han | edition | |
| 権 | ken | right | |
| 所 | sho | place | |
| 有 | yū | have | All rights reserved |
| 土 | do | earth | |
| 井 | i | a well | Doi |
| 版 | han | printing block | |
| 画 | ga | picture | |
| 店 | ten | shop | Hangaten |
Followed by surnames of printer Itō (伊藤) Toraji (虎二) and carver Ikeda (池田) Seizō (清蔵) in katakana:
| Character | Reading | Meaning | Translation |
| 摺 | suri | printer | Printer: |
| イ | i | ||
| ト | to | ||
| ウ | u | Itō | |
| 彫 | hori | carver | Carver: |
| イ | i | ||
| ケ | ke | ||
| 田 | ta | Ikeda |
These seals indicate that this copy of the print was produced in 1948 or shortly thereafter.
Artist’s name in bottom left-hand corner of the print area, together with red Shin seal:
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in which the three kanji read:
| Character | Reading | Meaning | Translation |
| 光 | kō | light | |
| 逸 | itsu | diverge | Kōitsu |
| 真 | shin | true | true |
References
- Ross Walker’s Kōitsu website
- Walker, Ross, and Doi, Toshikazu (2008). The Catalogue Raisonné of Tsuchiya Koitsu. Meiji to Shin-Hanga, Watercolours to Woodblocks. Otsu City, Shiga, Japan: Ohmi Gallery Publishing.
Provenance: An auction held in April 2016 by the Floating World gallery