Japanese Woodblock from Florilegius

Very good Japanese woodblock print by Utagawa Kunisada II Depicting a rather unusual scene from a Kabuki play with two actors holding up another actor as though he were a puppet in a Bunraku play. Nakamura Fukusuke I is paraded like a Puppet of Yaoya Hanbei by two supporting actors Arashi Kangoro I as Yoshida Kango (right), and Nakamura Kangoro I as… Read more about this item

Very good triptych of a charming scene of court ladies celebrating New Year. A lady brings in a lacquer tray with the second course of a sumptuous New Year meal in three lacquered bowls to two noblewomen seated on the floor. A scene from the series Chiyoda no o-oku (Inner Palace of Edo Castle), published Meiji 28-29 (1895-1896). All the women wear elaborately… Read more about this item

Colour woodblock triptych of two of the most famous sumo wrestlers of the Meiji Era. Depicts a sumo wrestling training bout between Hitachiyama Taniemon (left) and Umenotani Otomatsu, later Umegatani Totaro II (right). Hitachiyama (1874-1922) and Umegatani (1878-1927) were the two wrestlers most associated with the "golden age" of Meiji-era sumo wrestling. With tate-gyoji or referee Kimura Shounosuke XVI holding a gunbai at… Read more about this item

Rare complete copy of Keika Hasegawa's Keika Hyakugiku (100 chrysanthemums by Keika) (The British Museum only has Volumes 1 and 2, the Smithsonian only 2 and 3.) 75 colour woodblock prints (all published), including eight double-page, from this seminal book on the cultivation of chrysanthemums. Volumes 1 and 2 published in July 1893 and Volume 3 published in December 1903. Chrysanthemum cultivation… Read more about this item

First three volumes (of 4) of this rare botanical set. 150 colour woodcut botanicals printed by hand on hand-made paper, bound in blue stitched wrappers with red labels. A superb botanical and pharmacopoeia japonica, includes flowers and vegetables as well as plants of commerce. Plants include Japanese magnolia, peony, clematis, tiger lily, iris, camellia, hibiscus, water lily, bitter gourd, taro,… Read more about this item

One volume only from the 8-volume series of guidebooks to the Enchuro School of ikebana or flower arrangement first published in Tokyo in 1807. 8 pages of text and 52 pages of woodcuts of ikebana featuring flowers in vases on tables, in hanging baskets, etc. Condition: Washi paper covers worn and fragile, binding resewn, the delicate woodcuts on thin washi… Read more about this item

Kaishien Gaden (Manual of the Mustard Seed Garden) is an Edo-Era Japanese edition of the very popular Chinese painting guide Jieziyuan Huazhaun by Wang Gai, first published in the Qing Dynasty in China (1701). The manual was reprinted many times from 1748 onwards in Japan. Four volumes from the Second Collection, with drawing instructions and examples for ume plums and… Read more about this item

Rare set of 3 volumes of aromatic herbs from Kan'en Iwasaki's multi-volume botanical series Honzo Zufu: Hokusabu (Iconographia Plantarum), originally compiled from 1828 and later published in 92 volumes. This set of 3 volumes (volumes 6, 7, 8 in the series) includes 21 pages of text and indexes, and 100 color woodcuts of fragrant herbs or medicinal plants. Plants include… Read more about this item

Rare volume on camellias from Kan'en Iwasaki's multi-volume botanical series Honzo Zufu (Iconographia Plantarum), originally compiled in 1828 and later published in 92 volumes. This volume, number 88 in the series, includes 10 pages of text and index of camellia species, and 47 color woodcuts of Camellia japonica varieties. Condition: Washi paper covers scuffed, but interior very clean, strong impressions of… Read more about this item