Posted by John Fiorillo on December 19, 1998 at 14:25:52:
In Reply to: Utamaro posted by Nils U. Bosshard on December 19, 1998 at 09:35:41:
: I have an oblong oban sized print, signed Utamaro hitsu, edited by Nishimura-ya Yohachi (Nishiyo) "Eijudo", showing 2 women and a child riding on a horse (with 2 side saddles) led by a man, passing an open "hut" in which 2 girls are playing string instruments. In the background there is a village, a torii, and the sea with some sailing boats at the horizon.
: The title of the series reads something like "Mairu?(partly trimmed) zu meisho fukei" and the title "Ise miya(?) no yama", both in cartouches in the left top corner.
: Does anyone know something about such a series, and is it by Utamaro I or II?
: Nils
Response from JF:
Hello, Nils. I suspect you have an Utamaro II. I am familiar with nearly 2,000 prints by Utamaro I but do not know of the series or the specific design you have cited. Here are my reasons for assuming (even without seeing the print) that it is by Utamaro II:
(1) Utamaro I designed very few ôban prints in the horizontal format, perhaps 25-30 in all. He also used a horizontal format for some surimono, but they vary in size and proportion. There are also a few dai-ôban (large ôban, some actually double-ôban).
(2) Utamaro II designed various series and individual prints in the horizontal ôban format. I know of one, for example, depicting travelers at Futami Bay of Ise (Ise Futamiga ura no kei) with the famous "husband and wife" rocks (Meoto Seki) and Fuji in the distance. One woman rides horseback, her children seated in baskets attached to the sides of the saddle, while six other travelers are on foot. This Ise subject seems to be similar in treatment to your print, though it does not bear a series title. He also produced several designs for a series of women and children issued in 1810 and titled Mitsuhana kodakara no awase("Matching Flowers of the Three Cities with Treasured Children"). Yet another horizontal ôban series was Seirô wakasanjin("Three Young Beauties of the Pleasure Quarters"). Overall the horizontal ôban format was more common in the oeuvre of Utamaro II than in the works of Utamaro I.
Although a few early prints by Utamaro II can be deceptively similar to prints by Utamaro I, there are usually stylistic differences that set apart the works of the two artists, especially in the later prints. Perhaps you can identify something in your print that would signify Utamaro II.