Torii Kotondo (鳥居言人) (artist 1900 – 1976)
Snow (Yuki - 雪) - the title is embossed at the bottom
10/1929
11.75 in x 18.25 in (Overall dimensions) Japanese woodblock print
Dated and signed: Shōwa yonen jūgatsu
(Shōwa 4 [1929], 10th month)
昭和四十月
Kotondo ga (言人画)
Artist's seal: Kotondo
Publisher: Sakai-Kawaguchi
(embossed at the bottom left)
Numbered in pencil 76/200
Minneapolis Institute of Arts
Walters Museum of Art
National Museum of Asian Art
Asian Art Museum, San Francisco
Centre Céramique de Maastricht
St. Louis Art Museum There is a special stamp attached to the back of this print. It reads: Gaikoku iki ni-hyaku mai kagiri zeppan, dai nanajūroku go, Torii Kotondo; for foreign export, limited edition of 200 printed, number 41, by Torii Kotondo.
外國行貳百枚限絶版 第七六號 鳥居言人
The publisher's name is also stamped, all in caps, in English on the back fo the print: KAWAGUCHI.
Note: If you click on the print to enlarge it you will see two images in the upper left corner. By clicking on the lower image you can see the hand-written attached on the reverse.
****
The Toledo catalogue from the 1930s state that the blocks were cut by C. Ito and printed by W. Komatsu. There were 18 blocks which were superimposed 25 times. They list the edition as 300. However, this print clearly shows that it comes from an edition of 200. Perhaps there were both. One reliable source notes that the edition of 200 was meant for foreign markets.
****
Illustrated:
1) In 鳥居言人 Torii Kotondo, Gallery Beniya, 1995, p. 31, no. 22.
2) In black and white in 近代日本美人画展 : 伝統木版画を支えた作家たち Exhibition of Modern Japanese Beauties: Meiji, Taishō, Shōwa, Riccar Art Museum, 1982, n.p., no. 85.
3) In a small black and white reproduction in Modern Japanese Prints by Dorothy Blair, Toledo Museum of Art, #132.
4) In color in The Female Image: 20th century prints of Japanese beauties, Abe Publisher, 2000, #172, p. 129.
5) In color in Seven Masters: 20th-Century Japanese Woodblock Prints from The Wells Collection, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 2015, p. 193.
modern prints (shin hanga - 新版画) (genre)
Sakai Kawaguchi (酒井川口) (publisher)