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Subject:Translation request for Japanese woodblock print #1
Posted By: Kay Tue, May 11, 2021 IP: 2001:999:3:837c:1009

Would anyone be able to translate the calligraphy and the stamp imprint on the top right and bottom left of this Japanese woodblock print please?

Close-ups are below main print

Any help much appreciated!







Subject:Re: Translation request for Japanese woodblock print #1
Posted By: Stan Tue, May 11, 2021

Your print is by Ando Hiroshige and is titled Moon Pine, Ueno (Ueno sannai Tsuki no matsu), from the series One Hundred Famous Views of Edo (Meisho Edo hyakkei) printed in 1857.

Judging by the wood grain at the top, it appears to be an original and worth a considerable amount.

See the link below for one at the Boston, MFA.

Regards,
Stan

URL Title :Moon Pine


Subject:Re: Translation request for Japanese woodblock print #1
Posted By: Horst Graebner Wed, May 12, 2021

For me it looks like a machine printed reproduction.
Horst

Subject:Re: Translation request for Japanese woodblock print #1
Posted By: Stan Wed, May 12, 2021

It could be some kind of photo reproduction. I am taking the OP's word that it is a woodblock print. It is hard to tell from this distance.

Cheers,
Stan

Subject:Re: Translation request for Japanese woodblock print #1
Posted By: Kay Wed, May 12, 2021

Hello Stan,

Thank you very much for the information on this and Print 2, and especially the links to the Boston Museum pages. MUCH appreciated!

A couple of (well, three) questions if I may.

1) You say “Judging by the wood grain at the top, it appears to be an original…...” Pardon my ignorance as these prints are far from my forte, but by this I assume you mean what appears to be the grain of the wood (from the block) that can be seen in the print itself at top (e.g. the center-most grain outline just to right of the upper tree leaves having a ‘V shaped’ appearance)?

2) Comparing both prints that I have (Print 1 and 2) to the Boston prints I notice the size of both (that I have) are slightly different sizes to what is shown on the Boston Museum pages. For instance my Print 1 is 36.3cm x 25.6cm while the Boston print is 37.2cm x 25cm (and my Print 2 is 36.4cm x 25.7cm while Boston's is 35.5cm x 24.4cm). How much bearing does this have on them being original or not?

3) What are the stamp imprints in the outer ‘white’ border. That is what do they signify / relate to?

And again, thanks very much for your help.

Kay

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Subject:Re: Translation request for Japanese woodblock print #1
Posted By: Horst Graebner Wed, May 12, 2021

The British Museum has an original; the resolution is slightly better than that of the MfA Boston: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/A_1906-1220-0-715
Look at the texture of the colors; a color woodblock has a different texture than a machine print.
Best seen at the top right of the title.
Do you see the colors bleading through on the backside of your prints? See the last picture on this page: http://shinhanga.net/repairs.htm

The round seal at the top right is the censor seal "aratame", to the left of it is the date seal: Snake 8 for the 8th month 1857.
The seal on the lower left edge is the publisher's seal of Sakanaya Eikichi, also Uoya Eikichi.
Horst

Subject:Re: Translation request for Japanese woodblock print #1
Posted By: Stan Wed, May 12, 2021

Hi Kay,

1) Re: wood grain. Exactly. No 2 woodblocks have the same grain. It's like a fingerprint. If the grain is the same, the prints came from the same blocks. That's why the only way this wouldn't be an original is if it was a quality reproduction from a photo of the original print.

2) Exact print size is a little flexible. Since the paper was produced by hand, there is room for minor size differences. Once the print has been printed, size can be changed by trimming. Margins are important to collectors. A collector wants full margins but a print may have been trimmed. The worst case is "trimmed into the image" meaning that the margins are gone and so is some of the image. See the example below of a rather tired, very trimmed, Kuniyoshi print in our collection.

See Horst's excellent comments.

Cheers,
Stan



Subject:Re: Translation request for Japanese woodblock print #1
Posted By: Kay Thu, May 13, 2021

Thank you very much for your input Horst, much appreciated. And your addition also Stan.

Now just to clarify re the color/s, my photos were taken indoors under artificial light, so I would say that they do not represent the true colors.

However, having now taking them out of their frames, I can say that there is no bleed-through into the back of the print whatsoever. And although I have only limited experience with ‘old’ paper – that is I once collected both photographs and paper prints from the early 1900's through to the early 1940’s - the paper certainly does not feel or look 'old' and especially not like what I would expect paper from the 1800’s would look/feel like. So I would have to assume they are, unfortunately, copies.

Subject:Re: Translation request for Japanese woodblock print #1
Posted By: Stan Fri, May 14, 2021

Hi Kay,

Yes, they are repros. There should definitely be bleed-through. The mulberry paper used for Japanese woodblock prints has a texture and suppleness of heavy toilet paper (for lack of a better comparison).

Cheers,
Stan


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