About This Print
These untitled prints by Sakamoto Hanjirō, picturing horses grazing in a pasture, are from the three print series known as Three Horse Pieces (Uma sandai), published by Mikumo Mokuhansha, first in 1951 in a limited edition of 300, 100 of which were signed by Sakamoto, and then again as single sheet prints in editions of 300 and 700.1 This collection's print IHL Cat. 969 is 105 in the edition of 300, published in 1966 three years before the artist's death. Print IHL Cat. #1205 is likely from a later edition, using the same blocks. This later edition uses a mica infused paper not used in the earlier edition.
While the artist's painting color palette has been described as "austere," his prints generally use a lighter, pastel-like color palette, as can be seen in both this print and another print from the series pictured below.
1 Guide to Modern Japanese Woodblock Prints: 1900-1975, Helen Merritt, University of Hawaii Press, 1992, p. 130, 258-259.
Print Details
| IHL Catalog | #969; #1205 |
| Title | Horses in Pasture (Uma sandai 馬三代) |
| Series | Three Horse Pieces |
| Artist | Sakamoto Hanjirō (1882-1969) |
| Signature | unsigned |
| Seal |  Sakamoto lさかもと |
| Publication Date | originally 1951 - #969 1966; #1205 after 1966 |
| Edition | |
| Publisher | Mikumo Ishihara Co. 美雲 |
| Carver | |
| Impression | #969 excellent; #1205 excellent |
| Colors | #969 excellent; #1205 excellent |
| Condition | #969 good - minor toning; mat line; mounting remnants along top edge verso; wrinkling #1205 excellent; light toning |
| Genre | sosaku hanga (creative print); moku hanga |
| Miscellaneous |  |
| Format | oban |
| H x W Paper | #969 - 10 x 13 3/8 in. (25.4 x 34 cm) #1205 - 9 15/16 x 13 11/16 in. (25.2 x 34.8 cm) |
| H x W Image | #969 - 8 3/4 x 12 1/4 in. (22.2 x 31.1 cm) #1205 - 8 3/4 x 12 1/4 in. (22.2 x 31.1 cm) |
| Collections This Print | |
| Reference Literature |
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