Jōshūya Jūzō (上州屋重蔵) (publisher ca 1812 – 1876)
Jōju (seal name - 上重)Kinjūdō (firm name - 錦重堂)
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Biography:
This publisher is listed in Marks as #191. Artists who were published by this house include Hiroshige II, Hōshō, Kiyomitsu II, Kunichika, as both Kunisada & Toyokuni III, Kunisada II, Kunisada III, Kuniteru, Kuniyasu, Kuniyoshi Kyōsai, Sadafusa, Shuntei, Toyokuni I, Yoshiiku, Yoshimune, Yoshitomi and Yoshitsuya.
We have highlighted Kunichika in bold type because he is the only artist in the Lyon Collection published by this house.
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Andrea Marks gives two different dates for the start of this publishing firm - ca. 1812 and ca. 1823, but we believe this is probably due to an editing error. The end date is 1876.
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"There has been some confusion with the publisher's first name being Jūzō or Jūbei, as the seals that Jōshūya mostly used do not tell that information. One source tells us that Jūzō inherited the business in the second month of 1862 from his father Jūbei [兵衛] and Jūzō's son was Jūshichi. Another source says that in the ninth month of 1863 the son Chiyomatsu inherited the business and took the name Jūzō. However, an inheritance in 1862/63 by Jūzō is contradicted by the name Jūzō appearing on some prints from the 1830s and 1840s as well as being listed in the Guild members from 1851. In fact, it was Jūbei who inherited the business from Jūzō as a game board by Hiroshige II exists... with his name on it. Unfortunately a date for this game board could not be verified." Source and quotes from Japanese Woodblock Prints: Artists, Publishers and Masterworks 1680-1900 by Andreas Marks, p. 256.
