About This Print

Source: "Kawanabe Kyosai and Toyohara Kunichika," by Shigeru Oikawa appearing in Time Present and Time Past: Images of a Forgotten Master: Toyohara Kunichika (1835-1900), by Amy Reigle Newland, Hotei Publishing, 1999, p. 40, 42.

In 1877 the publisher Sawamuraya Seikichi issued this collaborative print by Kunichika and Kyosai, the only collaborative triptych by the two artists.  “Kunichika contributed the fore- and middle-ground scenes illustrating figures in aristocratic dress, which are apparently a reference to the 11th-century Tale of Genji.  The background is dominated by Kyosai’s rendition of a western-style suspension bridge which had recently been built on the grounds of the imperial palace in Tokyo.”  The artists have signed the print in the areas of their contribution.  Kunichika’s signature in the right panel is proceeded with the two characters 人物  (“jinbutsu”) meaning “human figure by.”

Kunichika and Kyosai were two of the most popular woodblock print artists of the 1870s.  Contemporaries, they were “well-acquainted, but at times adversarial, companions.”   It was not unusual for publishers to have multiple artists work on different portions of a single print, each being assigned their design strength.  Kyosai and Kunichika first collaborated in 1875 on four prints in the series Collection of Famous views of Modern Tokyo¹, published by the same publisher of this triptych. 

¹ See the print The Entrance of Asakusa Temple: Taking a Portrait of the Nio Guardians for additional information on this series.

Print Details

IHL Catalog	#493
Title or Description	New Year's Outing Before a Suspension Bridge  Azumagenji no uchi komatsubiki sonō no tsuribashi 東源氏之内 小松曳園生之釣橋
Artists	Toyohara Kunichika (1835–1900) and Kawanabe Kyōsai (1831-1889)
Signatures	right: 人物 豊原国周 筆 jinbutsu Toyohara Kunichika hitsu center: 豊原国周 筆 Toyohara Kunichika hitsu  left: 應需 惺々狂斎 ōju Seisei Kyōsai 荒川八十八画 Arakawa Yasohachi (Kunichika's mother's surname and the artist's given name) 上野丁一丁目十二バンチ (Ueno address)
Seal of the Artist	red Toshidama seal beneath Kunichika signatures
Publication Date	January 12, 1877  明治10
Publisher	Sawamuraya Seikichi 沢村屋清吉  武川清吉 板  Takekawa Seikichi han 須田町四バンチ Su Yonchō 4-banchi [Marks: seal 26-081; publisher ref. 459]
Carver	彫工銀 Horikō Gin (left panel within publisher's cartouche) 彫銀 Hori Gin (right panel below Kunichika signature.)
Printer
Impression	excellent
Colors	excellent
Condition	good- minor soiling mainly visible in margins; full margins; separate sheets; not backed
Genre	ukiyo-e; 源氏絵 genji-e
Miscellaneous
Format	vertical oban triptych
H x W Paper	14 5/8 x 9 7/8 in. (37.1 x 25.1 cm) each sheet
H x W Image
Collections This Print	Tokyo Metropolitan Library 193-C002 (01, 02,03); Waseda University Library 文庫30 B0227
Literature	Time Present and Time Past: Images of a Forgotten Master: Toyohara Kunichika (1835-1900), by Amy Reigle Newland, Hotei Publishing, 1999, fig. 12 p. 42.

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