1964 After Kiyonaga "Bush-Clover Garden", Full-Color Print From Japan

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A fine large full-color Ukiyo-E Hanga print after original woodblock print "Genre Scenes of the Brocades of the East - … Read more A fine large full-color Ukiyo-E Hanga print after original woodblock print "Genre Scenes of the Brocades of the East - Bush-Clover Garden" by Kiyonaga (1752-1815). Comes from a rare Collection of 24 Masterpieces by Kiyonaga. Produced & published by Shuei-Sha, Tokyo, in July 1964. Printers: Toppan Printing Co., LTD. Printed on one side. Attached at the top to a board of heavy textured paper, covered with lighter sheet of paper for protection, numbered 11 on the label on the front of the cover. Excellent condition - minor edge wear on the left edge of the print, minor edge wear on the board and cover, never framed, ready to be framed. Copy of the commentary by Dr. Kiyoshi Shibui (below) in Japanese and English is included.

Overall (folded) 12.55"W x 18.20"H
Overall (unfolded) 25"W x 18.20"H
Image 9.83"W x 14.75"H

Commentary by Ukiyo-e Art consultant & editor Dr. Kiyoshi Shibui:
Signature: signed KIYONAGA
Printers: Unidentified
Date: 1785
Stored at the Tokyo National Museum

The bush-closer has a lovely bloom, unassuming and feminine. Particularly the white one is fascinating to me. The are around the Sumida is often subjected to floods. It has a brooding atmosphere all its own completely removed from the frivolous gaiety of Edo proper. Flowers are often the only gay feature in this region. The Ryusanji temple on the riverside just behind the Kamedo Tenjin shrine is well known for its bush-clover blooms. It has the name of a "bush-clover temple" (Hagi-Dera).

There are a number of theories as to when they began to cultivate the bush-clover in this temple garden. Some say it was from the 3rd year of Meiwa (1766), some others, the 6th year of Genroku (1693), or earlier. When I was there last, I saw a relic of stone bowl with an inscription "an auspicious day of May, the 5th Year of Meiwa (1768). Temmei period, it seems, was the time when flower-viewing was most in fashion. The garden was beautifully landscaped and people gathered there were dressed in their gayest. The heroine's gaze is directed towards a young Samurai in repose, invisible here as he is painted in another panel of the set. See less