KITAGAWA UTAMARO (1753-1806)

Details

KITAGAWA UTAMARO (1753-1806)
Shiohi no tsuto [Gifts of the Ebb Tide]

An illustrated kyoka anthology, 1 volume (complete) with original dark blue covers painted in gold with plovers, waves and bands of mist, comprising 10 sheets, 1 preface sheet signed "written by Chieda at the request of the Yaegaki poetry circle", presumably the Akera poetry group led by Akera Kanko (1737-1799) where he describes an outing with seven other members when they went on a boat trip from Edo to the beach at Shinagawa, 8 double-page illustrations printed with karazuri, mica and metallic dust, a total of thirty-six kyoka poems by thirty-six poets in the upper half of each illustration on the subject of the thirty-six different shells which appear below, one plate depicting women gathering shells on the beach, six plates of various shells and seaweed on the shore, and one of a princess and attendants playing the kai-awase [shell-matching] game in an interior, featuring gold paint applied to the clouds at the bottom of the screen as well as cut gold leaf and gold sand above, 1 postscript sheet signed Chieda followed by the colophon naming the illustrator as Gako Kitagawa Utamaro with seal Jisei Ikke and the publisher Koshodo (Tsutaya Juzaburo of Edo), generally fine condition with minor worm-holes in the margin of the postscript and some slight toning on a few pages
27.2 x 19.5cm.

Provenance

The Adolphe Stoclet Collection, Sotheby's London, 8th June 2004, Lot 494

Lot Essay

Undated, but almost certainly issued in 1789, being the second of Utamaro's trilogy of natural history books following the issue in 1787 of Ehon mushi erabi [The Insect Book] and preceding Momo chidori kyoka awase [The Hundred Birds with Kyoka Poems] issued in 1791.

A magnificent impression of the first printing which reaches the very pinnacle of the printer's art, and probably one of the last of its kind for many years as the Kansei reforms of 1790 prohibited the further issue of luxurious editions such as this. A variety of extremely sophisticated techniques are used including karazuri to simulate the movement of the waves, the use of metallic pigments, and the application of mica to create the effect of sand on the shells.

An original handwritten note is attached, acheté à Murakami 16-1-10.

The variations between the first and second printings are discussed in Shugo Asano and Timothy Clark, The Passionate Art of Kitagawa Utamaro, (British Museum Press, London, 1995) no. 466

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