Posted by Ann D. on August 29, 1998 at 16:32:20:
Today I paid $6 for two prints at a garage estate sale. The
previous owner was said to have traveled extensively in Asia.
I own a few genuine ukiyo-e, so I know what they are supposed
to look like. I am sure these are real woodblock prints,
though I can't say whether they are reprints or originals.
One of them looks by style to be 1880-1910 (my best guess). It is an
image of the back of a man and a woman walking down the street at night.
The woman is playing a lute; the man is holding what looks
like a songbook. A couple of people on the street, plus a dog
and a puppy, and a woman on a balcony are shown in silhouette.
This piece has been abused: cut to fit a frame then totally
glued down to paper. The frame backing was held in by old
cut nails and the outermost backing paper was totally disintegrated, so
obviously it is fairly old.
The print itself is moderately toned. I don't know
whether it would do more harm than good to try to have it
unglued.
The other print looks newer (early 20th century?). Dimensions are 38 cm x 25 cm (not
normal, as I understand?) The image is of several sailing boats in
a harbor at night. Lights from two boats in the foreground shine
into the water. Once I got the print out of its horrible little
frame, I knew it must have been made for the western market because
on the reverse is written (in English): "All rights reserved.
Printed by T. Hasegawa, Tokyo". It has some light toning but overall
is in good shape.
Both prints have red seals below some black writing, but I don't
read Japanese.
I'd just like to know if anyone can tell me any more about these
prints. Also I'd appreciate any advice on whether to remove the
first print from its backing paper.
I don't expect them to be worth a lot, but they are both
artistically nice and worth more than $6 to me aesthetically!
:-)
Thanks,
Ann