Keinen: Kingfisher with Iris
Move your mouse over image or click to enlarge

Imao Keinen (1845-1924) / after Ohara Koson (1877-1945)

A kingfisher hunting under blooming iris.

Signature: Keinen

Publisher: Shima Art Co. (seal)

Date: 1930s

Size: Vertical Ôtanzaku (Mitsugiriban), 37.8 x 19.5 cm (sheet size)

Excellent impression, colours and condition, with additional white pigment (oxidised) in the top flower. Small stamp "Made in Japan" in lower margin verso. A rarely seen image.

Ill. in Reigle Newland/Perrée/Schaap, Crows, Cranes and Camellias, The natural world of Ohara Koson 1877-1945, Leiden/Boston 2010, p. 130, no. 126.

For the discussion of these high-quality woodblock prints with slightly varied motifs after Ohara Koson (1877-1945) but different artist signatures see Robert Schaap, ibid. p. 169ff, and Sumii Kôtarô’s contribution on Shima Art Company at Shotei.com.; he assumes that these images were in fact printed by Daikokuya in Tokyo for Shima.

sold