Small Format Prints:
Ukiyo-e Reproductions and Shin Hanga
Small hand-printed woodblock prints, such as the prints shown above, started to appear in large numbers in the 1930s to fill the need for inexpensive souvenirs and greeting cards. They are variously referred to as Post Card size prints (hagakiban 葉書版), Miniature prints and Small prints and range in size from approximately 2 x 3 in. to 3.5 x 6 in.
The publisher Watanabe Shōzaburō (1885-1962) lists the sizes of these small prints in his 1936 catalog as follows:1
Post Card (hagakiban) Size – about 15.6 x 8.5 cm (6.1 x 3.3 in.)
Medium (chū) Card Size – about 9.7 x 6 cm (3.8 x 2.4 in.)
Small (shō) Card Size – about 7.2 x 5.1 cm (2.8 x 2 in.)
Octavio (yatsugiri) Size - about 8.5 x 13 cm (3.3 x 5.1 in.)
Narrow (hoso) Card Size - about 15.3 x 6.6 cm (
Publisher's who issued small prints included Takemura Hideo, Shōbidō Tanaka, Doi Sasaichi (Doi Hangaten), Baba Nobuhiko, Bijutshusha, Shima Art Company, and Watanabe Shōzaburō.
Watanabe Shōzaburō in his 1936 catalog specifically notes that “The colour-prints ranging from Small Card to Post Card are used for Christmas cards.”2 He also provides the following instructions for placing orders for these prints:
Order for Colour Prints
Hitherto my shop has frequently received orders for colour prints. The artists of Western painting place orders for a mere interest’s sake to distribute them among their friends. Menu cards, X’mas cards, posters, calendars, colour-print portraits, gardens, gifts connected with some remembrance, etc., have been made to order. Because materials and expert workmen are always ready, orders are promptly executed and completed with great care.3
It is not unusual to see these small prints mounted directly onto a special-ordered Holiday Card, such as the one pictured below.
The designs for these small prints were often taken from previously designed ōban-size prints or were newly created by both well-known, little known or unknown artists. Some of the designs bear signatures or seals of known artists, some bear signatures or seals that cannot be read or linked with known artists and some have no signatures or seals at all, making attribution to a specific artist difficult, if not impossible.
紫園
Shien
One commonly encountered seal reading “Shien” was, according to several sources (http://shotei.com/artists/shien/shien.htm and Artelino), a “house seal” of Watanabe Publishing, with the actual designs being created by artists such as Shōtei, Ohara Shōson (Kōson), Kawase Hasui, Kasamatsu Shirō and Tsuchiya Kōitsu, among the best-known shin hanga designers of the period.
紫園
Shien
Many of these small prints are strikingly similar in design, as we can see below in the prints.
City in the Rain
Kinkakuji in Snow
In many cases it is unknown which publisher and artist originated a particular design, but the publisher Watanabe Shōzaburō made clear his concern about copied designs in the copyright notice appearing in his 1936 catalogue, as follows:
In case any picture already issued reproduced or copied by the third person without permission, he will be sued and judged as a violation of copyright, that is, as the infringement of property right.
There had been examples that a few pictures issued by my shop were reproduced or copied without permission previous to the Great Earthquake disaster [1923] and after it. On each occasion the violator had to pay damages and to write letters of apology.4
The subject matter for the bulk of these small shin hanga prints is landscapes, particularly of well-known scenic spots throughout Japan, and kacho-ga (bird and flower prints).
The small reproductions of ukiyo-e prints, copy, or borrow, from Edo-period designs and also feature landscapes along with bijinga and pictures of birds-and-flowers (kacho-ga). In his 1962 catalog the publisher Watanabe notes the following:
Some prints of Medium and Post-card sizes are pictures reproduced from the masterpieces by Hiroshige, Hokusai and Utamarao, etc. The old color prints of Regular size are taken from photographs in diminished sizes and are pasted on woodblocks. Then black lines are engraved first, after which color-blocks are made from the sheets colored on the black lines. Because they are diminished to about one-tenth of the actual regular size, the engraving requires much skill and technique.5
By “reproductions” we mean the masterpieces of the great Ukiyoe (color –print) masters reprinted as nearly as possible like the originals, with the same technique and still as in olden times. Such reproductions serve the purpose of enabling us to appreciate the composition and coloring of the originals, which are usually very rare.6
after Hiroshige's Sudden Shower over Shin-Ōhashi Bridge at Atake,
No. 58 from the series One Hundred Famous Views of Edo, 1857
Paper size: 5 5/16 x 3 1/2 in. (13.5 x 8.9 cm)
Image size: 5 1/8 x 3 5/16 in. (13 x 8.4 cm)
IHL Cat. #1444
Note: This collection’s small prints by Hiroshige, from his 1856 series One Hundred Famous Views of Edo (Meisho Edo hyakkei), were all published by Yokohama-based publisher Takemura Hideo.
1 Catalogue of Wood-Cut Colour Prints of S. Watanabe, S. Watanabe, 1936
2 ibid, p.23.
3 ibid, p. 126.
4 ibid. p. 123.
5 Catalogue of Woodcut Color Prints by Contemporary Japanese Artists, S. Watanabe, 1962, p. 4.
6 ibid. p. 84.
Prints in Collection
Modern Ukiyo-e Reproductions and Modified Designs of Original Ukiyo-e Prints
click on image for details
Small Format Reproduction,
undated (c. 1930s)
after Isoda Koryūsai's Fujibakama, from the series Genji in Fashionable Modern Guise,
orig. 1770/1772
publisher: Takemura Hideo
image: 5 7/16 x 3 9/16 in.
sheet: 5 9/16 x 3 11/16 in.
IHL Cat. #1453
Small Format Reproduction,
undated (c. 1930s)
after Kitagawa Utamaro's Two Geisha and Porter
in Wind and Rain at Night, from
Vol. 2 of the book Flowers of the Four Seasons,
publisher: unknown
image: 3 3/8 x 5 5/16 in.
sheet: 3 11/16 x 5 3/4 in.
IHL Cat. #1535
Small Format Reproduction,
date unknown
after Harunobu's A Bijin Writing Poem Slips for the Tanabata Festival (Round Window),
orig. 1750/1770
publisher: unknown
image: 5 3/4 x 4 1/16 in.
sheet: 5 13/16 x 4 1/8 in.
IHL Cat. #1534
Small Format Reproduction,
undated (c. 1930s)
after Hiroshige's The Monkey Bridge in Kai Province,
orig. 1840/1842
publisher: unknown (possilbly Takemura Hideo)
image: 5 3/16 x 3 5/16 in.
sheet: 5 3/8 x 3 7/16 in.
IHL Cat. #1452
Small Format Reproduction,
undated (c. 1930s)
after Hiroshige's Fuchū, Nichō-machi, No. 6 from a Hiroshige harimaz-e series Pictures of the Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido, orig. 1856
publisher: unknown (possilbly Takemura Hideo)
image: 5 3/16 x 3 5/16 in.
sheet: 5 3/8 x 3 1/2 in.
IHL Cat. #1458
Small Format Reproduction.
undated (c. 1930s)
after Hiroshige's Paulownia Plantation at Akasaka, No. 52 from the series One Hundred Famous Views of Edo,
orig. 1856
publisher: unknown (possilbly Tahemura Hideo)
image: 5 1/4 x 3 5/16 in.
sheet: 5 3/8 x 3 7/16 in.
IHL Cat. #1450
Small Format Reproduction
undated (c. 1930s)
after Hiroshige's, Kuwana: Ferryboats at Shichiri, No. 43 from the series Famous Sights of the Fifty-three Stations, orig. 1855
publisher: unknown (possilbly Tahemura Hideo)
image: 5 1/8 x 3 5/16 in.
sheet: 5 1/4 x 3 3/8 in.
IHL Cat. #1449
Small Format Reproduction,
after Hiroshige's Kiyomizu Hall and Shinobazu Pond at Ueno,
No. 11 from the series
One Hundred Famous Views of Edo, orig. 1856
publisher: Takemura Hideo
image: 5 1/8 x 3 5/16 in.
sheet: 5 1/4 x 3 3/8 in
IHL Cat. #1447
Small Format Reproduction,
after Hiroshige's Night View of Saruwaka-machi, No. 90
from the series One Hundred Famous Views of Edo, orig. 1856
publisher: Takemura Hideo
image: 5 1/8 x 3 5/16 in.
sheet: 5 1/4 x 3 3/8 in
IHL Cat. #1448
Small Format Reproduction,
undated (c. 1930s)
after Hiroshige's Sudden Shower over Shin-Ōhashi Bridge at Atake, No. 58 from the series
One Hundred Famous Views of Edo, orig. 1857
publisher: Takemura Hideo
image: 5 1/8 x 3 5/16 in.
sheet: 5 5/16 x 3 1/2 in.
IHL Cat. #1444
Small Format Reproduction,
undated (c. 1930s)
after Hiroshige's View from Massaki of Suijin Shrine, Uchigawa Inlet, and Sekiya, No. 36 from the series One Hundred Famous Views of Edo, orig. 1857
publisher: Takemura Hideo
image: 5 1/8 x 3 5/16 in.
sheet: 5 1/4 x 3 7/16 in.
IHL Cat. #1445
Small Format Reproduction,
undated (c. 1930s)
after Hiroshige's Fireworks at Ryōgoku, No. 98
from the series One Hundred Famous Views of Edo, orig. 1858
publisher: Takemura Hideo
image: 5 1/8 x 3 5/16 in.
sheet: 5 1/4 x 3 7/16 in.
IHL Cat. #1446
Small Format Reproduction,
undated (c. 1930s)
after Hasegawa Chikuyō's Sacred Bridge from the series 12 Views of Famous Places in Nikko,
orig. 1880
publisher: unknown (possilbly Tahemura Hideo)
image:5 3/16 x 3 5/16 in.
sheet: 5 3/8 x 3 7/16 in.
IHL Cat. #1451
Shin Hanga Original Prints and "Copied/Borrowed" Designs
click on image for details
Bridge and Lantern in Evening Snow (untitled)
(print and preparatory painting), undated (c. 1930s)
artist: signature unread (possibly 福太 Fukuta)
publisher: unknown (possilbly Tahemura Hideo)
image: 5 7/16 x 3 1/2 in.
sheet: 5 5/8 x 3 11/16 in.
IHL Cat. #1425 and #1697
Cherry Tree, Lantern, Boat on Pond (untitled)
(print and preparatory painting)
undated (c. 1930s)
artist: signature unread (possibly 福太 Fukuta)
publisher: unknown (possilbly Tahemura Hideo)
image: 5 7/16 x 3 1/2 in.
sheet: 5 9/16 x 3 11/16 in.
IHL Cat. #1421 and #1698
Snow in Yamagata
山形の雪
(painting)
undated
artist: unread artist seal
image: 5 3/8 x 3 9/16 in.
sheet: 5 11/16 x 3 7/8 in.
IHL Cat. #1699
Temple and Trees (untitled)
(preparatory painting),
undated (c. 1930s)
artist: unknown
image: 5 1/2 x 3 1/2 in.
sheet: 5 7/8 x 3 7/8 in.
IHL Cat. #1700
Farmhouse in snow (untitled),
undated (c. 1930s)
artist: signature unread
(possibly 福太 Fukuta)
publisher: unknown (possilbly Tahemura Hideo)
image: 5 1/2 x 3 1/2 in.
sheet: 5 5/8 x 3 5/8 in.
IHL Cat. #1426
Pagoda and pond (untitled),
undated (c. 1930s)
artist: signature unread
(possibly 福太 Fukuta)
publisher: unknown (possilbly Tahemura Hideo)
image:5 7/16 x 3 1/2 in.
sheet: 5 9/16 x 3 5/8 in.
IHL Cat. #1420
Tori in snow (untitled).
undated (c. 1930s)
artist: signature unread
(possibly 福太 Fukuta)
publisher: unknown (possilbly Tahemura Hideo)
image: 5 7/16 x 3 9/16 in.
sheet: 5 5/8 x 3 11/16 in.
IHL Cat. #1429
Geisha with Lantern Under a Crescent Moon (untitled),
undated (c. 1930s)
artist: unread signature
publisher: Takemura Hideo
image: 5 1/4 x 3 3/8 in.
sheet: 5 5/16 x 3 1/2 in.
IHL Cat. #1459
Tenmangū 天満宮 神社の?,
undated (c. 1930s)
artist: unknown
publisher: unknown
image: 5 1/16 x 3 1/4 in.
sheet: 5 5/8 x 3 3/4 in. [trimmed on bottom and right]
IHL Cat. #1700
Torii on a Snowy Evening (untitled), undated (1950s/1960s)
artist: "Tomoe"
publisher: Watanabe Shōzaburō
image: 5 3/8 x 3 3/8 in.
sheet: 5 11/16 x 3 9/16 in.
IHL Cat. #656
Edo no Haru 江戸の春
(Edo in Spring),
undated (c. 1930s)
artist: Inagaki Kadō
(act. c. 1930s)
publisher: unknown (possilbly Tahemura Hideo)
image: 5 1/2 x 3 1/2 in.
sheet: 5 5/8 x 3 5/8 in.
IHL Cat. #1423
After Shōtei's Shrine by the River, undated (c. 1930s)
artist: unknown
publisher: unknown (possilbly Tahemura Hideo)
image: 5 1/2 x 3 1/2 in.
sheet: 5 5/8 x 3 5/8 in.
IHL Cat. #1454
Fuji from Lake Kawaguchi (untitled), undated
artist: unknown
publisher: unknown
image: 3 1/8 x 2 3/16 in.
sheet: 3 3/8 x 2 3/8 in.
IHL Cat. #1028
Suzukawa 鈴川,
undated (c. 1950s)
artist: unknown
publisher: unknown (possibly Baba Nobuhiko based on "ba" 馬 character seal)
image: 5 9/16 x 3 5/8 in.
sheet: 5 3/4 x 3 13/16 in.
IHL Cat. #660
Fuji from lake with bamboo (untitled), undated (c. 1950s)
artist: "Shien" [a seal used by Watanabe from the 1930s until the 1950s for a number of small prints designed by unnamed shin hanga artists.]
publisher: Watanabe Shōzaburō
image: 5 3/4 x 3 7/8 in.
sheet: 5 7/8 x 4 in.
IHL Cat. #661
Torii at Miyajima (untitled),
undated (c. 1950s)
artist: "Shien" [a seal used by Watanabe from the 1930s until the 1950s for a number of small prints designed by unnamed shin hanga artists.]
publisher: Watanabe Shōzaburō
image: 5 7/8 x 3 5/8 in.
sheet: 6 1/16 x 3 3/4 in.
IHL Cat. #657
Kyoto Kinkakuji
京都金閣寺, undated (1930/1936)
artist: Kawase Hasui (1883-1957)
publisher: Watanabe Shōzaburō
image: 5 5/16 x 3 7/16 in.
sheet: 5 7/8 x 3 15/16 in.
IHL Cat. #1538
Kinkakuji
金閣寺,
undated (1930/1936)
artist: unknown
publisher: unknown
[similar to Hasui Hp-45]
image: 5 11/16 x 3 3/4 in.
sheet: 5 5/8 x 3 15/16 in.
IHL Cat. #653
Kyoto Kinkakuji
京都金閣寺,
undated c. 1930s
artist: unknown
publisher: Takemura Hideo
[similar to Hasui Hp-45]
image: 5 7/16 x 3 11/16 in.
sheet: 5 5/8 x 3 15/16 in.
IHL Cat. #1424
Kyoto Kinkakuji
京都金閣寺,
undated (c. 1930s)
artist: unknown
publisher: Takemura Hideo
[mounted on greeting card]
[similar to Hasui Hp-45]
image: 5 7/16 x 3 9/16 in.
sheet: 5 9/16 x 3 11/16 in.
IHL Cat. #1668
Konjiki Pagoda
平泉金色堂,
undated (c. 1957)
artist: after Kawase Hasui (1883-1957)
publisher: likely Watanabe Shōzaburō
[simliar to Hasui Hp-47]
image: 5 1/4 x 3 3/8 in.
sheet: 5 5/8 x 3 5/8 in.
IHL Cat. #1536
Konjiki Pagoda
平泉金色堂,
undated (c. 1957)
artist: after Kawase Hasui (1883-1957)
publisher: likely Watanabe Shōzaburō
[mounted on greeting card]
[simliar to Hasui Hp-47]
image: 5 5/16 x 3 3/8 in.
sheet: 5 11/16 x 3 5/8 in.
IHL Cat. #654
Sunset at Tokumochi (untitled) , undated (c. 1930s)
artist: unread ?春
publisher: likely Takemura Hideo
image: 5 3/16 x 3 3/8 in.
sheet: 5 3/8 x 3 1/2 in.
IHL Cat. #1456
Sunset at Tokumochi (untitled) , undated (c. 1930s)
artist: unread ?春
publisher: likely Takemura Hideo
[mounted on greeting card]
image: 5 3/16 x 3 3/8 in.
sheet: 5 5/16 x 3 7/16 in.
card: 6 3/8 x 4 5/8 in.
IHL Cat. #1457
Wakanoura 和歌の浦,
undated (c.1930s)
artist: Tsuchiya Kōitsu (1870-1949)
publisher: Doi Hangaten
image: 5 9/16 x 3 9/16in.
sheet: 5 3/4 x 3 13/16 in.
IHL Cat. #658
Kyoto Maruyama
京都丸山,
undated (c. 1930s)
artist: Tsuchiya Kōitsu (1870-1949)
publisher: Takemura Hideo
image: 5 7/16 x 3 9/16 in.
sheet: 5 9/16 x 3 9/16 in.
IHL Cat. #1419
Kyoto Kiyomizu 京都清水,
undated (c. 1930s)
artist: Tsuchiya Kōitsu (1870-1949) publisher: Takemura Hideo
image: 5 1/2 x 3 9/16 in.
sheet: 5 9/16 x 3 11/16 in.
IHL Cat. #1427
Nagao Pass 長尾峠,
orig. c. 1936 (this print likely post-WWII)
artist: unknown
[attributed to Tsuchiya Kōitsu (1870-1949)]
publisher: Baba Nobuhiko
image: 3 13/16 x 5 11/16 in.
sheet: 4 1/16 x 6 in.
IHL Cat. #659
Boat in Evening Snow (untitled), undated (1950s/1960s)
artist: unknown
(sometimes attributed to Hasui)
publisher: unknown
(possibly Watanabe)
image: 5 3/8 x 3 5/16 in.
sheet: 5 13/16 x 3 7/8 in.
IHL Cat. #655
City in the Rain
町の雨 Machi no ame,
undated (c. 1930s)
artist: anonymous
[similar to Hasui Hp-45]
publisher: Takemura Hideo
image: 5 1/2 x 3 9/16 in.
sheet: 5 9/16 x 3 11/16 in.
IHL Cat. #1422
Bijin and Bamboo in Snow (untitled),
undated (c. 1930s)
artist: Utagawa Nobuyuki (1878-?)
publisher: Takemura Hideo
image: 5 3/16 x 3 5/16 in.
sheet: 5 5/16 x 3 7/16 in.
IHL Cat. #1428
Bijin in Snow (untitled),
undated (c. 1930s)
artist: Utagawa Nobuyuki (1878-?)
publisher: Takemura Hideo
image: 5 3/16 x 3 5/16 in.
sheet: 5 5/16 x 3 1/2 in.
IHL Cat. #1455
Peacock and Cherry Blossom, 1930/1936
artist: Ohara Koson (Shōson) (1877-1945)
publisher: Watanabe Shōzaburō
[post-card size print No. 427 removed from Watanabe 1936 catalog]
image: 5 /14 x 3 3/8 in.
sheet: 5 7/16 x 3 9/16 in.
IHL Cat. #1537
Cherry Tree Blossoms Under a Crescent Moon (untitled),
undated (c. 1930s)
artist: Yoshikawa Koshimine
(act. c. 1930s)
publisher: unknown (possilbly Tahemura Hideo)
image: 5 3/8 x 3 7/16 in.
sheet: 5 3/8 x 3 7/16 in.
IHL Cat. #1463
Cherry Tree Blossoms under a Full Moon (untitled),
undated (c. 1930s)
artist: Yoshikawa Koshimine
(act. c. 1930s)
publisher: unknown (possilbly Tahemura Hideo)
image: 5 3/8 x 3 1/2 in.
sheet: 5 3/8 x 3 1/2 in.
IHL Cat. #1464
Bamboo and Bird (untitled),
undated (c. 1930s)
artist: Yoshikawa Koshimine
(act. c. 1930s)
publisher: unknown (possilbly Tahemura Hideo)
image: 5 3/8 x 3 1/2 in.
sheet: 5 3/8 x 3 1/2 in.
IHL Cat. #1465
Willow Trees, Boats on River and Bridge (untitled),
undated (c. 1930s)
artist: Yoshikawa Koshimine
(act. c. 1930s)
publisher: unknown (possilbly Tahemura Hideo)
image: 5 3/8 x 3 1/2 in.
sheet: 5 3/8 x 3 1/2 in.
IHL Cat. #1466
Farm Buildings in Snow (untitled),
undated (c. 1930s)
artist: Yoshikawa Koshimine
(act. c. 1930s)
publisher: unknown (possilbly Tahemura Hideo)
image: 5 3/8 x 3 1/2 in.
sheet: 5 3/8 x 3 1/2 in.
IHL Cat. #1467
Village Houses in Snow (untitled),
undated (c. 1930s)
artist: Yoshikawa Koshimine
(act. c. 1930s)
publisher: unknown (possilbly Tahemura Hideo)
image: 5 3/8 x 3 1/2 in.
sheet: 5 3/8 x 3 1/2 in.
IHL Cat. #1468
Village Houses in Snow (untitled),
undated (c. 1930s)
artist: Yoshikawa Koshimine
(act. c. 1930s)
publisher: unknown (possilbly Tahemura Hideo)
[mounted on greeting card]
image: 5 3/8 x 4 1/2 in.
sheet: 5 3/8 x 4 1/2 in.
card: 6 5/16 x 4 5/8 in.
IHL Cat. #1468
Bamboo, (untitled)
c. late 1950s/mid 1960s)
artist: Ide Gakusui (1899-1978)
publisher: Watanabe Shōzaburō
image: 5 3/8 x 3 7/16 in.
sheet: 5 9/16 x 3 7/16 in.
IHL Cat. #2040
Bunny with Easter Basket (untitled), undated (c. 1930s)
artist: signature unread (possibly 福太 Fukuta)
publisher: Takemura Hideo
image: 5 3/8 x 3 1/2 in.
sheet: 5 1/2 x 3 5/8 in.
IHL Cat. #1430
Bunnies making Mochi (untitled),
undated (c. 1930s)
artist: signature unread (possibly 福太 Fukuta)
publisher: Takemura Hideo
image: 5 3/8 x 3 1/2 in.
sheet: 5 1/2 x 3 5/8 in.
IHL Cat. #1460
Rabbits in Grass (untitled),
undated (c. 1930s)
artist: Nishimura Hodō 西村蒲堂
publisher: Takemura Hideo
image: 5 3/16 x 3 5/16 in.
sheet: 5 3/8 x 3 7/16 in.
IHL Cat. #1461