Takeuchi Keishu

1861-1942

Preparatory Watercolor with print of Sleeping Man Dreaming of his Lover for Kuchi-e

sumi ink and watercolor on transluscent paper, with notations near the overturned bucket, nawa (straw rope), and near the inset roundel of a beauty with sketched plaid pattern; together with the finished woodblock print signed Keishu and sealed Keishu, ca. 1895

watercolor 8 1/2 by 10 3/4 in., 21.7 by 27.2 cm
kuchi-e 11 3/8 by 8 7/8 in., 28.8 by 22.7

This preparatory drawing relates to a kuchi-e (frontispiece) print for the novel Taihai (Large Cup) by Kawakami Bizan (1869-1908) in Bungei Kurabu (Literary Club) magazine, vol. 1, no. 1 published in 1895. The notations regardng the colors would have helped the carver prepare the correct number of blocks, as well as the printer when he was coloring the blocks.

Reference:
Nanako Yamada, Mokuhan Kuchi-e (Survey of Woodblock Kuchi-e Prints), 2006, p. 290
(inv. no. C-1776)

price: Sold