$35.00
36 pp., 24.5 x 17.5 cm. Paper. English text. Numerous b/w illustrations.
Contents:
Pulverer, Gerhard, Japanese woodblock prints and impressionism, pp. 31-42;
Groenewegen, Peter, Photography of prints and small objects, pp. 43-49;
Morse, Peter, Additional Drawings in Hokusai’s ‘Hundred Poets’ series, pp. 50-52;
Lane, Richard, Teenage mutant ninja: the book, p. 53;
Kress, Else, Travelling shrine in shape of an inro, p. 54/Front cover;
John Stevenson, Book reviews: Undercurrents in the Floating World, pp. 55-56.
Perfect condition.
In his very interesting article on Japanese woodblock prints and impressionism, Gerhard Pulverer cites examples from the Hokusai Manga over Edouard Manet and Whistler to Hiroshige, to Gustav Klimt, and to Aubrey Beardsley.
Item location: Europe.
$12.50
14 pp., 23 x 15.5 cm. Paper. English text. 17 colour illustrations.
Almost perfect condition.
The brochure was produced in connection with an exhibition of Edo period (1615-1868) lacquer objects owned by the museum. Shown are writing boxes (suzuribako), a tray decorated with Daikoku’s hammer by Zeshin, a set of 12 incense containers of globular shape, each decorated and signed by another Taisho-period (1912-25) lacquer master, a sho flute, and a picnic-set.
Essay by Kakudo Yoshiko, entitled ‘Later Japanese Lacquers’, sub-titles ‘Surface Decoration’, ‘Writing Implements’, ‘Objects for Incense and Tea’, ‘Objects for Dressing’, etc., pp. 2-11.
Detailed list of the objects shown in the exhibition, measurements, inv.-no., etc., and Suggested Further Reading, pp. 12-14.
Item location: Europe.
$90.00
104 pp., 30 x 21.5 cm. Hardboard. Japanese language only. 62 colour plates.
Outside cover very slightly soiled, otherwise perfect condition.
The 62 colour plates present excellent and detailed photographs of writing boxes (suzuri-bako), saddles, furniture, and other objects, produced during the past centuries by the best lacquer masters in the Kaga area. Among them are members of the Igarashi family, and their followers.
In an essay by Motoya Fumio (pp.11 - 18) of the Ishikawa prefecture Museum of Arts, style and technique of lacquer objects made by Igarashi Dôho and his followers are compared to Edo (Tokyo)-style lacquer objects. The Kaga province, at the Japan Sea coast, is famous for its high-quality lacquers.
Total 49 illustrations of lacquer objects by Igarashi masters, or also executed in Igarashi-style, are shown on pp. 19 – 50. This is followed by 18 illustrations of lacquer objects made by Shimizu Kuhei (1686 - ?) and his circle (pp. 52 – 61). Lacquered armour, writing boxes, and other Kaga lacquer objects are shown on pp. 62 – 70.
Pages 72 – 84 focus on works by less known Kaga lacquer masters active in the Meiji period and the 20th century. Shown are 26 illustrations of objects by such masters as Igarashi Zuiho (1852-1903), Yoneda Magoroku (? – 1874?), Sawada Sotaku (1830-1915), Shinoda Getsukyo (1883-1931), Ogaki Shokun (1865-1937), Awada Beizan (1881-1943), Fugaki Seiho (1884-1954), and others.
On pp. 85 – 88 are presented 32 enlarged examples of the various techniques seen on objects by Igarashi, and other lacquer masters. Explanations and commentaries concerning the objects shown are given on pp. 89 – 99.
List of plates with measurements and relevant information on pp. 100 – 101.
A list of the association’s chairmen during the past 40 years, and photograph of the 12 present members of the board are found on pp. 102 – 103.
Item locations: Europe.
$17.50
20 pp., 24 x 17 cm. Paper. French text. 9 b/w plates.
Perfect condition.
Designs produced by the Japanese lacquer Master Uzawa Shogetsu seem to grow out of smooth surfaces of the perfectly finished lacquer boxes and other items he produced. Shogetsu’s (probably 1877 - ?) specialty were subtly shaded lacquer (maki-e) decorations, painted in meticulous details.
With 26 items, the majority of works of this little known master is found today in the Collections Baur. Some of the objects were especially made to order for the collector Alfred Baur (1866 - 1951), who bought as many of Shogetsu’s objects as were available. As a consequence of Baur’s passion for this artist’s work, Shogetsu is comparatively unknown in Japan today.
Various Tables, Glossary, and Notes.
Item location: Europe.
$65.00
160 pp., 29 x 21 cm. Paper. French / English text Alain Ducros. Japanese summary and list of netsuke, 7 pages, Alain Briot. Numerous colour plates.
Outside cover slightly worn, otherwise perfect condition.
The catalogue is filled with illustrations of approximately 200 netsuke, 50 inro, various pipe cases, tobacco pouches, kiseruzutsu pipe holders, and other items worn hanging from the belt. Also provided are reproductions of pages from design bases, such as the Soken Kisho (1781), and other woodblock-printed books. Enlarged details and signatures are shown separately.
With a preface (French language only) by Guy de Lasteyrie, and introduction by Alain Ducros.
Item location: Europe.
$37.50
250 pp., 27.5 x 23 cm. Paper. German language. 23 colour plates, 152 b/w illustrations.
Perfect condition.
Almost all the 80 paintings illustrated and discussed in this catalogue, entitled ‘Im Schatten hoher Baeume’ (In the shadow of old trees), are shown here for the first time outside China. Many of them have never been published before. They all are from the collection of the Museum Province Liaoning, Shenyang, which is internationally known for the quantity as well as the high artistic level of its collection.
Although the exhibition focuses on Literati paintings, from the 15th century onwards, examples of various styles and subject groups were selected. The exhibition was planned in cooperation of Chinese and German experts, among them Prof. Lothar Ledderose, Art-Historical Institute, University of Heidelberg, Nora von Achenbach, Herbert Butz, Gerald Holzwarth, Burglind Jungmann, and others.
Introduction by Roger Goepper, Axel von Saldern, Katharina Schmidt, for the exhibiting museums, and Lothar Ledderose for the exhibition.
Table of contents, p. 9. An essay by Lothar Ledderose, Die Malerei der Literaten (On Literati Paintings), pp. 10 – 21. Historical map of China, era names of the Ming and Qing dynasties, pp. 22 – 23.
Colour plates, pp. 25 – 48. List of painters, with reference to the catalogue numbers, p. 49. Exhibition objects, pp. 50 – 239.
Index of Chinese names and descriptions, pp. 240 – 245. Bibliography, pp. 246 – 248.
Item location: Europe.
Four copies available.
$37.50
96 pp., 26 x 19 cm. Paper. English text. 57 colour plates.
Perfect condition, one ex libris ‘Rolf M. Degener’.
Well-known, but always fresh and astonishing are the ways Mt. Fuji is presented by Hokusai. Whether dominating the entire print or being just visible at the horizon above human activities, depicted in cool, clean colours and dramatic angles – this series must be considered as a masterpiece. On a map of Japan the locations of the views of Mt. Fuji is superimposed with the plate numbers in this book. On a Map of Edo from 1805 are printed the plate numbers of the remaining views. This is an eminently readable and enjoyable book.
Item location: Europe
$130.00
Holle Verlag, Baden-Baden, Germany, 1965, 375 pp., 25.5 x 21 cm. Cloth. German language. 37 colour plates, 256 b/w illustrations.
Dust cover faded and slightly worn at spine, slight foxing at page edges, otherwise perfect condition.
Lackkunst in Ostasien (East-Asian Lacquer Art) is one of the first overviews written in German language on the subject of lacquer. The book begins chronologically with illustrations of more than 2000 years old Chinese lacquer objects, continuing to Chinese, Japanese, and Korean lacquer boxes and screens of later epochs. Samples are shown of all kinds of techniques and styles, including lacquer paintings by Shibata Zeshin. The majority of objects shown here were owned by two rivalling industrial-lacquer producing companies: the Herberts and the Herbig-Haarhaus companies, in Wuppertal and Cologne, Germany. Owner and director of both companies were interested in lacquer art and began in 1937 to exhibit family treasures. Later they systematically bought lacquer objects at auctions and exhibitions. During the 2nd World War a large part of the Herberts collection, especially lacquered furniture, was destroyed. However, smaller items of Chinese and Japanese lacquer art, being easier to transport, and perhaps more precious, were stored in rural places and survived. Beatrix von Rague was responsible for the collection of one company during the years 1952-1959. Edith Straesser was responsible for the other company-owned lacquer museum from 1967 until 1987.
In 1982 the lacquer collections of Dr. Kurt Herberts were acquired by the BASF Lacke + Farben AG, who now exhibit them in their Museum of Lacquer Art in Muenster, Germany.
Appendix: Zeittafel (Table of Chinese dynasties, reigns of Japanese emperors, Korean eras, from 1600 B.C. to 1925 A.D.), pp. 356-359. Bibliography, pp. 360-364. Index, pp. 365-374, Museums and collections presented, p. 375. Table of contents, p. 376.
Rare early reference. Item location: Europe.
$55.00
395 pp., 26 x 18.5 cm. Paper. Japanese text, English captions. 200 ills., 156 colour plates.
Perfect condition.
A lavishly illustrated overview of a variety of Japanese lacquer objects produced on the island of Shikoku, Kagawa prefecture. Colour illustrations present brilliantly carved lacquer objects decorated in the striking black and red sanuki technique, other objects and screens are decorated in the kinma technique, imported from Burma (today Myanmar) in the 17th century. Shown are also colourful incised zonsei lacquers. Many reading helps (furigana) for names, techniques, etc., found throughout the text.
Pages 16 – 84 focus on Tamakaji Zôkoku (1807 - 69), a brilliant master of carved lacquer, kinma-lacquers, and colourful zonsei-nuri. This is followed by examples of work and short biographies of various Kagawa Lacquer masters of the 20th century (see list below).
Pages 32-35 and 148- 157 deal with the well known Yamanaka lacquer shop in Osaka, the base of Yamanaka & Co., in New York (founded 1894), and its Boston branch (1899).
Illustrations of works by such craftsmen as (in alphabetical order): Akashi Bokkei, works dated from 1947 to1990, Bunkidô Kokusai, brother of Tamakaji Zôkoku, Bunkidô Ransai (kinma, zonsai), Gotô Tahei, 1913, Ishii Keidô (Sakamoto Sessai), 1926 – 1933, Isoi Joshin, kinma, carved lacquer,1922, 1933, 1946, 1959, Isoi Masami, 1964, 1974, 1988, 1994, Kagawa Sôseki, 1946, 1955, Kamada Kadô, 1941 - 1945, Kitahara Senroku, 1927, 1934, Kubota Tsune, 1982, Manago Jitsuya, 1967, Mori Zôdô, 1931, Takahashi Kanzan, 1920, Takagi Yoshitsugu, 1922, Sasa Chikusen, 1951, Tamakaji Zôkoku, works dated from 1839 to 1854, Tamakaji Tôsha, works dated from 1881 to 1895, Tanizawa Fujimatsu, 1933 – 1941, Ônishi Tadao, 1955 – 1963, Ôshima Tadashi, 1957, Ôta Hitoshi, 1983 – 1998, Otomaru Kôdô, 1924, 1929, 1934, 1975.
Appendix:
Bibliography, focusing on Tamakaji Zôkoku and his workshop. Citations from magazines (Shikkokai zasshi, etc.), readings of inscriptions on works and storage boxes, transciptions of notes by Tamakaji Zôkoku, pp. 326-355. (Zôkoku) Setsudô, pp. 355-359, Hyakku-kaen, Miki Hachigorô, pp. 360-361, Mori Zôdô, pp. 361-362, Kagawa-ken kôgei gakku (Kagawa pref. Handicraft school), Kagawa-ken bijutsu tenrankai (Kagawa pref. Fine Arts Exh. Assoc.), pp. 362-363, Isoi Joshin, pp. 363-365, Otomaru Kôdô, pp. 365-368,
Akashi Bokkei, pp. 368-369, Ônishi Tadao, pp. 369-370, Kagawa Sôseki, p. 370, Isoi Masami, p. 370, Ôta Hitoshi, pp. 370-371, Tamakaji Zôkoku, abbreviated genealogies, pp. 371-372, Tamakaji Zôkoku, genealogy, p. 371.
Conclusion, pp. 375-379.
Bilingual list of plates with measurements and relevant information, pp. 382-290. Index, in Japanese with furigana.
Item location: Europe. This is a low priced book
82 pp., 22 x 19 cm. Paper. 14 colour plates, 6 b/w plates. Bilingual, French / English.
Perfect condition.
Alfred Baur (1866 - 1951) was highly successful, both as a Swiss businessman in Ceylon, and as a collector of Japanese lacquer and Chinese ceramics. In a letter to his long-term supplier of Japanese lacquers he stated that …‘Although I have been successful in business, I am prouder still of my collection of Chinese and Japanese Art’.
On occasion of the 25th anniversary of the opening of the Collections Baur Museum in Geneva, Pierre-Francis Schneeberger, formerly Keeper of the Baur Collection, describes the person behind the collections. We learn that at the end of the 19th century Alfred Baur went to Ceylon where he amassed a fortune by selling natural manure especially adapted to the fertilizing of coconut plantations. In connection with his business he built a private railway, the first on the island, and established various companies before returning to Switzerland after 22 years in Ceylon. His remaining years were divided between the management of his companies and the planning of his purchases and their display in suitable surroundings. The museum’s archives contain a large proportion of Baur’s correspondence with dealers and collectors, establishing the development of his interests in Far Eastern Art. Alfred Baur left his fortune in a Foundation for the Housing and Administration of his Collection; which also takes care of the publishing of well-researched and richly illustrated collection catalogues.
With 6 black/white plates and 14 colour plates, showing examples from Baur’s collection of sword fittings, netsuke, woodblock prints, Japanese porcelain, Chinese ceramics, Jade, and Snuff bottles.
Item location: Europe.
$22.50
136 pp., 39 colour ills., 86 b/w ills. 27.5 x 22 cm. Paper. German text.
Perfect condition.
The catalogue presents Korean embroidered objects from a private Korean collection. Shown are Buddhist banners, sutra covers and wrappers (kesa), as well as screens, badges of rank (hyungbae) and smaller items such as women’s accessories, various kinds of pouches, mainly from the 18th and 19th centuries.
The collector, Mr. Huh Dong Hwa describes the changing styles and materials seen in Korean embroidery over the centuries, as well as the materials and techniques used, and he gives hints concerning handling and care of old embroideries.
Including: Bibliography, Embroidery techniques, Glossary with translation of Korean characters, art-historical and technical terms.
Item location: Europe.
$55.00
New, in original shrink wrap.
$65.00
Excellent exhibition catalogue, showing weapons, tea ceremony utensils, textiles, and other items used by the Tokugawa shoguns during the years 1603 to 1867, as well as musical instruments and utensils used by their wives and daughters. This exhibition was also shown in the USA and France.
This book is located in Europe (EC).
$950.00
Tsuda – Manuskript, [Über die Lackkunst Japans, 1908, Tsuda Noritake, Tokyo, in der Karl Mannstaedt – Übersetzung.] A translation into the German language of a manuscript on the History of Japanese Lacquer by Tsuda Noritake, dated 1908.
The manuscript, written by Tsuda in the English language, is inscribed with kanji for Japanese names and technical terms. With b/w line drawings of tools and utensils, and reproduction of objects from Japanese lacquer books and magazines. 11 5/8 x 8 9/16 in. (30 x 22 cm). Silkcloth, 2 vols. German text. Beautifully bound, perfect condition.
Vol. 1., 289 pp.
Part I. Introduction by Karl Mannstaedt, undated, ca. 1939, (pp.1-4), Table of contents (pp. 5-12), Introduction by Tsuda (pp. 13-14), History of Japanese Lacquer Art from the Nara period (pp.1-83), to the Tokugawa (Edo) period (pp. 84-257).
Inserted between pp. 83 and 84 are 32 pages of drawings copied from the “Tankaku-zufu”, based on the “Ruiju-zôyô-shô” with descriptions in the English language.
Vol. 2., 302 pp.
Part II. Biographies of Lacquer Artisans (pp. 1-92), Part III. Descriptions of Tools and Materials used for the production of Lacquer objects (pp.1-98).
Inserted between pp. 19 and 20 of Part III. are 30 pages of line drawings of lacquerers’ tools and utensils with descriptions in the English language.
Part IV. Table of Contents, History of Lacquer (pp. 1-112).
Inscribed on the title page: TSUDA - MANUSCRIPT, In der Mannstaedt Übersetzung. Englisches Original aus dem Jahre 1908. Im Auftrag von Heinz Kress übertragen nach einer maschinengeschriebenen Kopie der deutschen Übersetzung im Jahre 1986. [Tsuda Manuscript, translated by Mannstaedt. After an English original from 1908. Transcribed from a type-written copy of the German translation in 1986 on behalf of Heinz Kress.] Karl Mannstaedt (dates unknown), who was employed before the II. World War by the German collector Dr. Kurt Herberts, made a type-written translation into German from a hand written English original. The various styles of writing in the manuscript indicate that it was dictated by Tsuda to a number of scribes. In the type-written translation the kanji for most technical terms and names were transcribed from the English original. A total of three hand written copies of the Tsuda Manuscript are known to exist today, but each contains minor variations of the text:
- One Tsuda Manuscript is owned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, N.Y.
- Another one is owned by the University of Bonn, Germany, Japanologisches Seminar.
- The third hand written copy in the English language, as well as Mannstaedt’s typed translation into the German language, are in the collection of Heinz and Else Kress, Finland. (see: inrô-shita-e, Design Drawings from a Japanese Lacquer Workshop, Select Bibliography, p. 353).
This book is located in Europe (EC).
$55.00
This book is the result of a BBC film producer’s interest in modern Japan’s industrial culture, with glimpses of old Japan, its martial arts, the theater, and its geisha culture. Michael Macintyre’s photographs present a Japan of contrasts: Modern companies arrange for their young female workers to take lessons in flower arrangement. Formally dressed apprentice geisha (maiko) are shown in a bowling alley: in Kyoto’s narrow streets the huge floats of the 1000 year-old Gion festival have to navigate carefully around dangerously close traffic lights and the electric-power cables and phone-wires, present everywhere in Japan’s streets. Tattooed Yakuza in a white-tiled bath, school-children on their way to temple, thousands of bicycles parked in Kyoto, fields, shops, and theaters, all possible aspects of Japanese life are shown. Appendix: References (p. 214), Historical table (pp. 214-215), and Glossary (pp. 215-216), Acknowledgements (p. 215).
This book is located in Europe (EC).