Meiji prints
| Design: | Ikeda Shōen (1886-1917) | |||||
| Print title: | Title page/Table of contents | |||||
| Album/series title: | Yaekasumi (Multilayered mist) | |||||
| Size: | 21.0 x 30.7 cm | |||||
| Original woodblock print | ||||||
| Photography: | Jacques Commandeur |
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This print displays the title and table of contents of the Yaekasumi album, including the Japanese titles of the twelve individual prints*).
Artist name in first column from the right, followed by series title in second column, the word Index in third column, and the Japanese titles of the twelve individual prints in the next twelve columns:
| Character | Reading | Meaning | Translation |
| 榊 | sakaki | sacred Shinto tree | |
| 原 | hara | meadow | |
| 蕉 | shō | plantain | |
| 園 | en | garden | |
| 女 | nyō | By the female brush of | |
| 筆 | hitsu | brush | Sakakibara Shōen |
| や | ya | ||
| へ | he | ||
| か | ka | ||
| す | su | ||
| み | mi | Multilayered mist | |
| 目 | moku | eye | |
| 録 | roku | record | Index |
| 登 | to | ||
| 毛 | mo | ||
| 達 | da | ||
| ち | chi | Friends | |
| ゆ | yu | ||
| 幾 | ki | ||
| の | no | ||
| ゆ | yu | ||
| ふ | fu | ||
| 辺 | be | Evening snow | |
| か | ka | ||
| え | e | ||
| 里 | ri | ||
| み | mi | ||
| ち | chi | On the way home | |
| 葉 | ha | ||
| 累 | ru | ||
| 能 | no | ||
| 野 | no | ||
| 辺 | be | Spring field | |
| 唱 | shō | ||
| 哥 | ka | Singing | |
| は | ha | ||
| る | ru | ||
| 佐 | sa | ||
| め | me | Spring rain | |
| わ | wa | ||
| 多 | ta | ||
| ど | do | ||
| 能 | no | Roofed corridor | |
| あ | a | ||
| ち | chi | ||
| 左 | sa | ||
| 以 | i | Hydrangea | |
| 奈 | na | ||
| 川 | tsu | ||
| 乃 | no | ||
| あ | a | ||
| し | shi | ||
| た | ta | One summer morning | |
| 津 | tsu | ||
| 幾 | ki | ||
| の | no | ||
| 與 | yo | ||
| わ | wa | Moonlit night | |
| 志 | shi | ||
| ゃ | ya | ||
| 勢 | se | ||
| 以 | i | Sketching from life | |
| 那 | na | ||
| れ | re | ||
| 者 | ha | ||
| 登 | to | At ease with pigeons |
The last column from the right contains the firm name of the publisher:
| Character | Reading | Meaning | Translation |
| 滑 | kotsu | slide | |
| 稽 | kei | think | |
| 堂 | dō | temple | Kokkeidō |
| 梓 | azusa | woodblock printing | woodblock printing |
Followed by a red seal with the name of the publisher:
| Character | Reading | Meaning | Translation |
| あ | a | ||
| き | ki | ||
| や | ya | ||
| 万 | man | ten thousand | Akiyama |
And a red seal with the name of the carver:
| Character | Reading | Meaning | Translation |
| 彫 | ho(ru) | carve | |
| 匠 | shō | artisan | Carver: |
| 宗 | mune | religion | |
| 岡 | oka | hill | Muneoka |
The full name of the carver is Muneoka Shinkichi (1862-1929).
References
- Merritt, Helen, and Yamada, Nanako (1992). Guide to Modern Japanese Woodblock Prints: 1900 - 1975. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press.
- Narazaki, Muneshige, ed. (1990). Ukiyo-e Masterpieces in Western collections. The Robert O. Muller Collection. Tokyo: Kodansha International.
- Newland, Amy Reigle, and Shinji, Hamanaka (2000). The female image. Leiden: Hotei Publishing.
Provenance: Artelino
*) With many thanks to Naoko and Shinji Ōba for their help in reading and translating all these characters.