Ohara Koson (1877-1945)
A pheasant flying in front of windswept trees in heavy rain.
Signature and seal: Koson
Publisher: Akiyama Buemon (Kokkeidô), Tokyo
Date: c. 1900-1907
Original Japanese colour woodblock print. Size: Vertical Naga-Ôban, 49,8 x 22 cm (overall)
Excellent impression and colours, with some gofun white. Untrimmed, with margin at right side. Well visible wood grain. Verso slightly toned, along the right margin a little bit lighter*. Small paper loss in lower right margin, else very nice condition.
Early and very rare large-sized print. Ill. Reigle Newland/Perrée/Schaap, Crows, Cranes and Camellias, The natural world of Ohara Koson 1877-1945, Leiden/Boston 2010, p. 188, K21.4. Cf. Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, Perrée Coll., Nr. RP-P-2005-467.
For these earliest woodblock prints by Koson, printed by the Tokyo publisher Akiyama Buemon (company name and seal Kokkeidô) in a harmonious, muted colour palette and in the highest quality, cf. Amy Reigle Newland in Crows, Cranes and Camellias, p. 18f and * ibid., p. 36 on the toning found in these prints, often with lighter margins: "The fact that many impressions are toned "is an unexplained feature".
€ 1.800,-