Posted by Philippe Callier on December 12, 1998 at 16:46:31:
In Reply to: Re: Kakihan ("written seal, signature") posted by John Fiorillo on December 12, 1998 at 13:54:57:
: Response from JF:
: Hello, Hans Olof.
: When I visited the print room of the Philadelphia Museum almost two years ago I examined both the Shôkôsai hosobanthat bears his "pine needle" kakihan and the Hokuei ôban that bears his eye kakihan(Philadelphia has the only known impressions), and both appeared to be printed, not brushed in or "hand written" (though I wasn’t looking for such evidence and so did not examine the marks under magnification). If there are examples of ukiyo-e with hand written (applied by a brush) kakihan, they would probably signify a special commission like a surimono, but I should think they would be highly unusual (I do not know of any such ukiyo-e). Do you have a reference for one in which it is clearly stated that the kakihanis brushed in or hand written on the print, or are you relying on the translation of the term itself? I am more familiar with handstamped seals (many publishers’ seals in Osaka were applied that way), meaning that the seals were carved but were not part of the keyblock, so their location could vary a bit on each impression.
: Perhaps the confusion here is with the Koop and Inada reference (I don’t have the book at hand). A similar reference appears in Self and Hirose: Japanese Art Signatures: A Handbook and Practical Guide (Tuttle: 1987, p. 31), where they say: "Attention is drawn to signatures ending with a device known as a Kakihan. Meaning ‘written seal’ these marks are not readable characters but simply a flourished ending to an artists signature. On occasion an artist will create his kakihan by fanciful embellishment of one of the characters from his art name." However, the translation given as "written seal" does not preclude its also meaning a personal seal or device (as we all know, Japanese is devilishly difficult to pin down in translation). Shôkôsai’s "pine needle" is derived from the character shô in his name, meaning "pine," and thus it is quite personal, somewhat literal, and certainly less "abstract" that a mere flourish. Koop and Inada, as well as Self and Hirose, are offering only a general discussion on kakihan that applies to all sorts of Japanese artists, not only printmakers, who carved, engraved, printed, or brushed in their kakihandepending on the medium in which they worked.
: In suggesting the use of kaô, are you referring to the character for "face" or "countenance" or "appearance"?
John, Hans Olof:
I have examined the Toyokuni print picturing the gentleman bearing the crest of Nakamura Sukegaro II, and can confirm that the kakihan attached to Toyokuni's signature is printed, exactly like the rest of the signature. By the way, in his signature, Toyokuni used his full name, Utagawa Toyokuni, which he did rather rarely; but then, his teacher, Toyoharu, used his full name routinely, and I believe that Toyokuni's print is an early work (there is no censor seal to date it). Young Toyokuni may have been still influenced by the "conventions" taught by his teacher. Do we have examples of prints designed by Toyoharu (or print designers of his generation) signed with a kakihan ?
All the best,
Philippe