Kitao Shigemasa - Original 1805 8p Booklet of Coloured Woodblock Prints “True Depictions of Birds and Flowers” (“Kacho zue”)

An original and apparently complete booklet of eight folding coloured woodblock prints by Kitao Shigemasa depicting birds and flowers, housed in the original blue card covers with original printed label, as well as a later 19th century label which bears a European inscription in ink.

Starting with the outer label affixed to the front of the book, it is almost illegible to the modern Japanese eye, but it gives us the title of the book “Kacho zue”, or “True Depictions of Birds and Flowers” (or “True Pictures of Birds and Flowers”). The little character at the foot of the label is read “shita” and indicates that this booklet is the last in a series, most likely of two or three similar booklets.

Moving inside the booklet now and we see the title page - which is page 8, as the characters at the lower left outside of the main text block indicate. The other pages show page character marks numbered one to seven, so we can be confident that the booklet is complete. Reading downwards from right to left, the column on the right gives the title “Kacho zue” and says that this booklet is one of a first batch of three in what will be a 15-book series. The next column has Kitao’s name, but given as Kitao Kosuisai  (he was fond of using different names for his work and this was one he used later in life), and it has his seal stamped at the foot. The next column across gives us the name Sakuragi Teijoshun together with his seal, and it appears that he was the engraver of the woodblocks. The final (large) block of text at the left side starts with the date, given as the second year of the Bunka era, making it 1805. It says that it was issued at the new year on an auspicious day (every single day in the Japanese calendar is good or bad for one reason or another). This is followed by the name of Nishimura, who may have been an assistant engraver or polisher. The next column refers to where the printing took place, at a shop or factory called Kashiwabaraya in the Shinsaibashi district of Osaka (which is still a busy shopping and tourist area today). Then the remainder of the text gives the name of the retail outlet Okadaya, through which this booklet can be purchased, which was in Edo (now known as Tokyo) in a place called Shiba Shinmei-mae.

Kitao Shigemasa (1739 - 1820) was self-taught before becoming a student of Nishimura Shigenaga. His earlier works are bijin-ga images of beautiful women in the style of Harunobu. From 1765 he began illustrating books which became his main focus, and over 250 are known to exist. His booklets depicting birds and flowers were published in batches between 1805 until after his death in 1827. The example here is one of the earliest booklets from the series. 

Approx. 160x223mm. (The woodblock prints fold out to 314x220mm., disbound and pages loose from the original boards, a fragment of the original silk thread binding still attached. Some light wear to covers, though the prints are in good condition.

Many thanks to Tony Head in Tokyo for his help in preparing the description.