Animals and Plants,

Part I

 

The words kachô-e (花鳥絵) and kachô-ga (花鳥画) are usually translated as “pictures of birds and flowers”, but they may also be used to describe the broader category of nature prints.  A few additional examples of Kuniyoshi’s kachô-e may be found in the sections on surimono of miscellaneous subjects and fan prints of humorous and miscellaneous subjects. 

 

 

Series: Untitled series of water creatures

Robinson: Not listed

Title: None

Size: Chûtanzakuban (about 14 by 5 inches or 36 by 13 centimeters)

Description: Turtle and crab on a ledge underwater

Date: c. 1837

Publisher: Tsujioka-ya Bunsuke

 

I am grateful to Robert Pryor for this image.

 

This is another state of the above print.  The coloring is different, and the seal of the publisher, Tsujioka-ya Bunsuke, is no longer present.  It was pulled from the same woodblocks as the above.

 

This is a reproduction of the same print made by Robert O. Muller in the 1930s.  The woodblocks were expertly reproduced, but a careful examination will reveal slight differences in the black outlines and text.

 

Series: Untitled series of water creatures

Robinson: Not listed

Title: None

Size: Chûtanzakuban (about 14 by 5 inches or 36 by 13 centimeters)

Description: Catfish and trout

Date: c. 1837

Publisher: Tsujioka-ya Bunsuke

 

This is another state of the above print with a simplified design.  The woodblocks for printing the waves and the yellow on the catfish were omitted. 

 

Series: Untitled series of water creatures

Robinson: Not listed

Title: None

Size: Chûtanzakuban (about 14 by 5 inches or 36 by 13 centimeters)

Description: Koi and wisteria

Date: c. 1837

Publisher: Tsujioka-ya Bunsuke

 

Series: Untitled series of water creatures

Robinson: Not listed

Title: None

Size: Chûtanzakuban (about 14 by 5 inches or 36 by 13 centimeters)

Description: Stingray and puffer fish

Date: c. 1837

Publisher: Tsujioka-ya Bunsuke

 

Series: Untitled series of water creatures

Robinson: Not listed

Title: None

Size: Chûtanzakuban (about 14 by 5 inches or 36 by 13 centimeters)

Description: Goldfish and killifish

Date: c. 1837

Publisher: Tsujioka-ya Bunsuke

 

Series: Untitled series of water creatures

Robinson: Not listed

Title: None

Size: Chûtanzakuban (about 14 by 5 inches or 36 by 13 centimeters)

Description: Black carp

Date: c. 1837

Publisher: Tsujioka-ya Bunsuke

 

I am grateful to Robert Pryor for this image.

 

Another state of the above design

 

An additional state with the seal of the publisher removed.  It was printed from the same woodblocks as the preceding images.

 

Series: Untitled series of water creatures

Robinson: Not listed

Title: None

Size: Chûtanzakuban (about 14 by 5 inches or 36 by 13 centimeters)

Description: Octopus on a rock amid crashing waves with two fish

Date: c. 1837

Publisher: Tsujioka-ya Bunsuke

 

Series: Untitled series of water creatures

Robinson: Not listed

Title: None

Size: Chûtanzakuban (about 14 by 5 inches or 36 by 13 centimeters)

Description: Silver carp underwater by a wooden post with a floating peony

Date: c. 1837

Publisher: Tsujioka-ya Bunsuke

 

Series: Untitled series of water creatures

Robinson: Not listed

Title: None

Size: Chûtanzakuban (about 14 by 5 inches or 36 by 13 centimeters)

Description: Shrimp and fish after bait on a fishing line

Date: c. 1837

Publisher: Tsujioka-ya Bunsuke

 

I am grateful to Robert Pryor for this alternate state of the above design.

 

Series: Untitled series of water creatures

Robinson: Not listed

Title: None

Size: Chûtanzakuban (about 14 by 5 inches or 36 by 13 centimeters)

Description: Sweetfish (ayu) and bushclover

Date: c. 1837

Publisher: Tsujioka-ya Bunsuke

 

Series: None

Title: None

Size: Kakemono-e (a vertical diptych approximately 28 by 10 inches or 72 by 25 centimeters) 

Description: A hawk in an old pine tree

Date: c. 1845

Publisher: Mura-ya Seijirô

 

Series: None

Title: None

Size: Kakemono-e (a vertical diptych approximately 28 by 10 inches or 72 by 25 centimeters) 

Description: Tiger walking on a windy day

Date: c. 1830s-1840s

Publisher: No seal

 

 

 

This state, which lacks the Toshidama seal below Kuniyoshi’s signature, was probably printed after 1844.  In 1844, Kunisada, a competitor of Kuniyoshi, proclaimed himself the head of the Utagawa school, and adopted the name Toyokuni, which was the name of the previous leader of the school.  Kuniyoshi responded by severing his relationship with the school and stopped using the Toshidama seal, which was the schoolʼs heraldic device. 

 

NOTE: In a later edition of this design, the bamboo is omitted and the arcs representing wind are different.  I am grateful to Robert Pryor for this image.

 

Series: None

Title: None

Size: Kakemono-e (a vertical diptych approximately 28 by 10 inches or 72 by 25 centimeters) 

Description: Dragon and clouds

Date:

Publisher: Unidentified seal

 

Series: None

Title: None

Size: Kakemono-e (a vertical diptych approximately 28 by 10 inches or 72 by 25 centimeters) 

Description: Carp ascending a waterfall

Date:

Publisher: Maru-ya Seijirô

Title: None

Size: Unknown 

Description: Bush warbler or nightingale (uguisu, ), swallow (tsubame, ), cuckoo (hototogisu, 子規), mountain pheasant, pigeon, and cormorant with actors’ mon on their bodies

Date: c. 1848-1850

Publisher: Iba-ya Senzaburô

 

I am grateful to Robert Pryor for this image.

 

“Robinson” refers to listing of the series in Kuniyoshi by Basil William Robinson (Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1961). 

 

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