Paul Jacoulet

1902-1960

Korean Potter
(Le Maitre Potier, )

with artist's watermark of his initials and name in kanji, JP Jaku Rei; elegantly pencil signed at lower right, Paul Jacoulet, with red artist's seal Jaku-rei (in the shape of a butterfly), the title printed in French in the lower margin, Le Maitre Potier "Corée", and block carver's seal at lower left, Kentaro to (Maeda Kentaro, active 1924-61) and printer's seal Honda suri (Tetsunosuke Honda, active 1934-60), red limited edition stamp on verso, No. 80/250, published by the artist, ca. 1940

obaiban tate-e 18 7/8 by 14 1/8 in., 47.8 by 36 cm

In 1934 Jacoulet completed his first print with Yamagishi Kazue (ca. 1893-1966), and henceforward devoted his efforts to meticulous printmaking. He became his own publisher, and worked with the best carvers and printers of the period, almost always including their seals on the front of his prints. He had paper hand-made in Kyoto with his watermark, and used only natural pigments. He was known for lavish printings, and yet frugally, would only print impressions as they were ordered or that he had already sold to his subscribers. He also employed a complicated numbering system, with different edition sizes in English and Japanese, but in general, only a maximum 350 impressions of any design would have been made, and often, far fewer.

References:
Richard Miles, The Prints of Paul Jacoulet, 1982, pp. 97-98, illus. p. 60, cat. no. 40
Museum of fine Arts, Boston (mfa.org), accession no. 50.2907

(inv. no. 10-4893)

price: Sold