Posted by Darrel on April 25, 1997 at 04:12:17:
In Reply to: Jizuri seals posted by Scot Boyd on April 23, 1997 at 21:10:55:
: Would someone please describe the jizuri seals
: of Hiroshi Yoshida? Also what years were
: these stamps used? Thank you.
The jizuri seal is typically printed about one-third down the lefthand side of a Hiroshi Yoshida print just outside the print itself. On a handful of the early Yoshida prints, however, it appears on the righthand margin. Examples of the jizuri seal can be found in the ABE book "The Complete Woodblock Prints of Hiroshi Yoshida," the Riccar Museum catalog, and in most reproductions of Yoshida prints in books. Typically, the two character seal is printed in brown ink or, less commonly, in red ink. To one unfamiliar with the Japanese characters, the first (top) character looks like a three story house with a chimney. The second (bottom) character looks something like a vertical line drawn through an equals sign (=) sitting to the left of a pair of TV rabbit ears antennae.
As Gary explained in an earlier post, the seals were applied to first edition prints printed in Yoshida's studio which met his exacting standards of excellence. The vast majority of Yoshida's oeuvre bear the jizuri seal. However, there are a number of exceptions. First, none of the prints Yoshida designed for Watanabe prior to the 1923 Tokyo earthquake have a juzuri seal (ABE #1-8; Riccar #242-249). Unfortunately, these prints are virtually unattainable. Second, most of the prints made in the years 1928-1929 lack the jizuri seal (ABE #108-126 and 133; Riccar #106-124 and 128). These prints tend to be unusual size prints: generally smaller than oban (often postcard) size prints or larger than oban size prints. To my knowledge, these prints were never reprinted, in part due to Yoshida's difficulty in printing them satisfactorily. Consequently, the only (first) edition of these prints will always lack the jurizi seal. Two prints, the blocks for which were cut in 1941 but which were not printed until after Yoshida's death lack the jurizi seal (ABE #250-251). Finally, a number of noncanonical prints lack the jurizi seal, such as those which were specially commissioned, created for Yoshida's book on printmaking, etc. (ABE #252-258; Riccar #250-254 and 256-259). These prints were made in various years (1928-1929, 1936, 1937, 1939) or else are undated. Again, these were never reprinted, so the lack of a jurizi seal on these prints again would not indicate a reprint or a later edition.
Hope this helps.