IHL Cat. #1434
IHL Cat. #1435
IHL Cat. #1436
IHL Cat. #1437
IHL Cat. #1438
IHL Cat. #1439
IHL Cat. #1440
IHL Cat. #1441
IHL Cat. #1442
IHL Cat. #1443
Ichi-no-tani Futaba Gunki, 1926
IHL Cat. #2486
(first edition with tissue overlay)
IHL Cat. #1659
IHL Cat. #2490
Kanadehon Chūshingura, Act VII,
1926 or 1927(first edition with tissue overlay)IHL Cat. #2491
Kanadehon Chūshingura, Act VII,
1926 or 1927
IHL Cat. #2492
Kanadehon Chūshingura, Act VII,
1926 or 1927
IHL Cat. #2493
Igagoe dōchū sugoroku, 1926
(first edition with tissue overlay)
IHL Cat. #2475
Dan-no-ura Kabuto Gunki, 1926 or 1927
(first edition with tissue overlay)
IHL Cat. #2478
Dan-no-ura Kabuto Gunki, 1926 or 1927
IHL Caty. #2479
Honchō Nijūshikō, 1926 or 1927
(first edition with tissue overlay)
IHL Cat. #2476
1926 or 1927
(first edition with tissue overlay)
IHL Cat. #2481
Natsumatsuri Naniwa Kagami,
1926 or 1927
IHL Cat. #2482
Shinjū Ten no Amijima, 1926 or 1927
(first edition with tissue overlay)
IHL Cat. #2480
IHL Cat. #2483
Shinpan Utazaimon, 1926 or 1927
IHL Cat. #2484
Shinpan Utazaimon, 1926 or 1927
IHL Cat. #1656 and IHL Cat. #2485
Bunraku Theater Stage Set for
Sugawara Denju Tenarai Kagami,
post-WWWII (orig. 1927)
IHL Cat. #1528
IHL Cat. #1658 (later edition)
Kamakura Sandaiki, 1927
IHL Cat. #2473
![Bunraku Puppet Stage Set for the Scene Tearing the Carriage Apart in Sugawara Denju Tenarai Kagami [Sugawara and the Secrets of Calligraphy]](hasegawa-sadanobu-iii-konobu-ii-1881-1963/Bunraku puppet stage set for -24bb657c86560e0c.jpg)
Biography
Hasegawa Sadanobu III 三代 長谷川貞信 (1881-1963) [Konobu III 三代 小信]Sources: Guide to Modern Japanese Woodblock Prints: 1900-1975, Helen Merritt, University of Hawaii Press, 1992, p. 28; The Hotei Encyclopedia of Japanese Woodblock Prints, Amy Reigle Newland, Hotei Publishing Company, 2005, p. 439; website of Osaka Prints http://www.osakaprints.com/content/information/artist_bios/biographies/bio_sadanobu2nd.htm
The third of six generations of blood descendants of Hasegawa Sadanobu I 長谷川貞信 (1809-1879),Hasegawa Sadanobu III was born in Osaka with the given name of Nobutarō. He studied with his father Hasegawa Sadanobu II (1848-1940),who used the gō (art name) Konobu 小信 (making him Konobu I). A younger brother of Sadanobu II, who lived until the age of twenty, used the gō Konobu II, making Hasegawa Sadanobu III, Konobu III, when he took this name as his gō. Konobu III's specialties were prints related to the kabuki and bunraku (puppet) theaters and historical prints.
In 1925 he designed thirty prints (divided into 3 collections) showing various types of kumadori or stylized makeup used in kabuki. In 1926/1927 he created a series of forty-eight prints depicting the stage set and main characters (in the form of puppets) of twelve bunraku plays. The series was titled Illustrated Collection of Famous Japanese Puppets of the Osaka Bunrakuza 大阪文楽座人形画集 日本名物 and contained twelve sets of prints, one for each play. The first edition of this collection of prints was jointly issued by the publishers Bijutsusha 美術社 in Tokyo and Hangakai hanmoto 版画会板元 in Kyoto. At an unknown later date Uchida Publishing obtained the blocks and re-issued the prints depicting puppets.
As a caution, due to the overlapping active years of Sadanobu II and III and Sadanobu III and IV, work bearing the Konobu signature is often miss-attributed.
For a sampling of the work of the first three generations of Sadanobus, see http://kul01.lib.kansai-u.ac.jp/library/etenji/hasegawa/teishin-top.html, which, hopefully, has correctly attributed all the work displayed.
Sample Signatures and Seals of the Artist
 小信 Konobu signature and seal |  三世小信 Konobu signature and 三世小信 3rd generation Konobu seal |  小信 Konobu signature and だのぶ Konobu seal |  小信 Konobu signature and seal |  小信 Konobu signature and seal |  Konobu signature and seal |  Konobu signature and seal |  小信画 Konobu ga signature and seal |
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