Lot 2348: Various artists (Late 19th/Early 20th Century)

Album, ink and colors on silk; including a calligraphic preface by Saionji Kinmochi (1849-1940), with paintings by Yokoyama Taikan (1868-1958), Ogawa Usen (1868-1938), Kawai Gyokudo (1873-1957), Hashimoto Kansetsu (1883-1945), Tsuchida Bakusen (1887-1936), Matsubayashi Keigetsu (1876-1963), Otani Koen (1875-1943), Kawabata Gyokusho (1842-1913), Tomioka Tessai (1836-1924), Kaburagi Kiyokata (1878-1973), Taki Katei (1830-1901), and Watanabe Seitei (1851-1918), in an accordion-fold album titled Ryuhocho with seal Keisenan; together with the original wooden tomobako lid, inscribed Ryuhocho to the exterior, the lid interior signed Kansetsu []kyaku sai with seal Kansetsu [] (Hashimoto Kansetsu [1883-1945]), and Soho [ryu]sho with seals Sugawara Shokei and Soho (Tokutomi Soho [1863-1957]).

Album leaves, in order of appearance:

A calligraphic preface, signed Toan Kinmochi with seals Kinmochi no in and Toan shusaku

Loquat and bee, signed Taikan with seal Taikan

Kappa swimming, signed Usen Shi with seal Chikujuan

Landscape with sailboat, signed Gyokudo with seal Gyokudo

Monkey on branch, signed Kansetsu with seal Kansetsu [sanku]

Red flower, signed Bakusen with seal Bakusen

Garden rock, signed Keigetsu sanjin with seals Keigetsu (no) in, Shi[kei] and another

Fisherman, signed Kubutsu [saku] with seal Kubutsu

Landscape, signed Gyokusho with seal Gyokusho ryuin

Fishermen, signed hachijumatasan [ ] Tessai gaishi (Tessai at age 83 [1918]) with seals [Genko shijin], Tomishi yu[do] and another

Sambaso dancer, signed Kiyokata with seal Kiyokata

Chrysanthemum and bird, signed Katei ga with seals Taki ken no in and Katei, dated hinoto inoshishi aki (Fall 1887)

Bird on a branch, signed Seitei with seal Seitei

18 x 10 3/4in (45.7 x 27.3cm)

Saionji Kinmochi (1849-1940) was born a member of one of the leading kuge families of Kyoto, and was a close friend and political ally of Emperor Meiji (1852-1912). Following the Meiji Restoration, he spent a number of years in Europe, then returned to Japan where he served as Prime Minister from January 1906 to July 1908, and again from August 1911 to December 1912. The twelve artists represented in the album were among the most prominent nanga and nihonga school masters active during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The seal of another illustrious painter, Tomita Keisen (1879-1936), appears on the title strip, providing a terminus ante quem of 1936 for the album's compilation. The earliest painting in the group is likely the one by Taki Katei, a bird and flower composition dated in accordance with 1887.