Posted by John Fiorillo on July 06, 1999 at 02:10:10:
In Reply to: Kunisada "go" names posted by geo. on July 05, 1999 at 23:15:26:
Geo,
There is a listing of Kunisada’s signatures in van Doesburg: What About Kunisada? (Huys den Esch, 1990), pp. 133-134. I do not know how complete the listing is, and even Jan van Doesburg warns that one should never attempt to date a Kunisada print solely on the basis of a signature. Nevertheless, the listing might provide some idea about the use of particular ‘gô’. I have not made a study of these signatures myself and so offer them here without editorial comment. They may be summarized as follows:
The three most common ‘gô’:
Gototei: 1811-1841
Kôchôro: Late 1820s – 1864
Ichiyôsai: 1844-1864
Occasional ‘gô’:
Utagawa: 1806-1864
Ichiyûsai: 1811-1844
Gepparô: 811-1813
Kinraisha: 1813 (and possibly 1817)
Hanabusa Itchô: c. 1828-1864
Tôjuen: c. 1830
Kôchô: 1830s-40s
Kokuteisha: 1844-1864
Possible ‘gô’:
Fubô Sanjin: 1845-1864
Fuchôan: 1845-1864
Hokubaido: Dates uncertain
There were a few other ‘gô’ used on surimono (like Tôjuen) and shunga (usually paired with the name Matahei, like Fuki, Fukiyo, Bukiyo, Tocchôshi, and Gekkiyo). Kunisada also used special signatures for changing (‘aratame’) his name in 1844, to indicate special requests (‘ôju’), or indicating his age late in his career.
John