This my first post here so forgive me if doing it wrong but can anyone identify the image on the reverse of my print. I researched the image against museum collections and auction/catalogue records, and there is a very strong identification: the print in your photographs corresponds to a documented Utagawa Kunisada I design in the collection of the MAK – Museum of Applied Arts, Vienna, inventory KI 7616-2.
Home » Topics » This my first post here so forgive me if doing it wrong but can anyone identify the image on the reverse of my print. I researched the image against museum collections and auction/catalogue records, and there is a very strong identification: the print in your photographs corresponds to a documented Utagawa Kunisada I design in the collection of the MAK – Museum of Applied Arts, Vienna, inventory KI 7616-2.
This my first post here so forgive me if doing it wrong but can anyone identify the image on the reverse of my print. I researched the image against museum collections and auction/catalogue records, and there is a very strong identification: the print in your photographs corresponds to a documented Utagawa Kunisada I design in the collection of the MAK – Museum of Applied Arts, Vienna, inventory KI 7616-2.
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Okay! My reply has been blocked by the system again! I’m trying it sentence by sentence to find out which words aren't allowed. Direct linking to the print in the MAK database is not permitted for the time being. Since you have the inventory number, you should be able to find the print.
The rest of my answer: The print is unsigned and bears neither a publisher's logo nor a censorship seal. The MAK attributes the print (or the prints in the series) to Kunisada. I agree with the MAK on this point: stylistically, the print is clearly attributable to Kunisada. However, the dating is incorrect: the MAK dates the print to the Tenpō era (1830–1844). It should certainly be dated to the 1850s. Depictions of "courtesans" had been banned since 1842; consequently, this print was issued anonymously and bears no seals, though stylistically it corresponds to comparable works from the 1850s. The small red logo you included in the image must be your (unknown) collector's mark.
That red seal is very similar to the logo of a dealer, Japanese Galley Kensington. I wonder if there is a connection?
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Okay! My reply has been blocked by the system again!
I’m trying it sentence by sentence to find out which words aren't allowed.
Direct linking to the print in the MAK database is not permitted for the time being.
Since you have the inventory number, you should be able to find the print.
The rest of my answer:
The print is unsigned and bears neither a publisher's logo nor a censorship seal.
The MAK attributes the print (or the prints in the series) to Kunisada.
I agree with the MAK on this point: stylistically, the print is clearly attributable to Kunisada.
However, the dating is incorrect: the MAK dates the print to the Tenpō era (1830–1844).
It should certainly be dated to the 1850s.
Depictions of "courtesans" had been banned since 1842; consequently, this print was issued anonymously and bears no seals, though stylistically it corresponds to comparable works from the 1850s.
The small red logo you included in the image must be your (unknown) collector's mark.
That red seal is very similar to the logo of a dealer, Japanese Galley Kensington. I wonder if there is a connection?
-A