Edo prints


  Design: Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797-1861)  
  Title: In the snow at Tsukahara, Sashū  
  Series title: The illustrated abridged biography of the Buddhist priest Nichiren  
  Size: 20.4 x 31.7 cm (ōban)  
  Posthumous printing from newly cut woodblocks    
  Photography: Jacques Commandeur
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In snow at Tsukubara, Sashu

Enlargement


Originally published ca. 1830 by publisher Iseya Rihei (伊勢屋利兵衛).

Artist’s signature with red Toshidama seal in left print area:

Character Reading Meaning Translation
       
ichi one  
be spirited  
sai color  
       
kuni country  
yoshi favorable Brush of Ichiyūsai
hitsu writing brush Kuniyoshi

Red series title in right margin:

Character Reading Meaning Translation
       
high  
so ancestor  
go (honorific prefix)  
ichi one  
dai generation The illustrated abridged
ryaku abbreviation biography of the Buddhist
zu drawing priest Nichiren

Followed by publisher Iseya Rihei’s Hayashi seal, see Marks (2011, p. 37, seal number 01-122), a round kiwame (‘approved’) censorship seal, and the print title:

Character Reading Meaning Translation
       
sa left  
shū province  
tsuka hill  
hara field In the snow at
setsu snow Tsukahara, Sashū
chū inside (i.e., Sado province)


Another beautiful reproduction of this print carved and printed by David Bull can be seen here.


References


Provenance: Fuji Arts

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