Shôtei: Fire Fishing
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Takahashi Shôtei (Hiroaki) (1871-1945)

Fishermen fishing from their boats at night with fire baskets off Tsukudajima Island in Tokyo Bay.

Untitled (Isaribi – Fire Fishing)

Seal: Shôtei

Publisher: (Watanabe, Tokyo)

Date: 1909-1923

Size: Horizontal Ôtanzaku (Mitsugiri-ban), 14 x 30,5 cm (overall), Chirimen-e

Very rare print, printed before the Kantô earthquake 1923, in which the printing block were destroyed; here in an extremely rare creped version (Chirimen-e).
Excellent impression and colours. Paper verso a little unevenly toned, else very nice condition. A stamp with Watanabe's original catalogue number "No. 327" verso in bottom.

Shotei.com No. M-125. ill. Shimizu, Syotei (Hiroaki) Takahashi. Folk Museum of Ota City, 2005, p. 18, no. 34 (ill.).
The chirimen technique requires repeated pressing processes of the finished, moistened print. The sheet shrinks thereby, maintaining all proportions, resulting in intensification of the colours and a soft yet durable, almost textile-like quality of the finished print. Chirimen-e were produced in Japan from the mid-19th century on. In the West crepe prints became famous through the woodblock illustrated crepe books produced by the publisher Hasegawa from about 1880-1930 by this method. Creped single-sheet prints like this one are usually much rarer than the untreated "normal" versions.

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