States of Hasui's Zojoji Temple in Shiba 芝増上寺

This is speculative. It describes a sample of 137 prints. It may or may not describe the population of 3000 prints. The sequence was based on block use and abuse, and then seals and provenance.

Block wear appears to be consistent with Watanabe's seals and their placements. Seals do in fact appear to be indicative of age and this is perhaps because of high demand for this print. This point is important. Watanabe applied seals when prints were removed from inventory, not when an edition was printed so, in general for Watanabe-published prints, seals do not indicate when a print was actually made.

Colour variation in the kimono lining: The colour was pink until seq. 4. Generally afterward colour was the red pigment of the temple. The temple appeared darker against the lining because it had grey blocks layered on top.

Colour variation in the scarf: There was no indication that a blue scarf was earlier. In my reproduction, colour would alter from blueberry blue to coronation purple if pigment settled and wasn't frequently stirred. The ultramarine blue sank and the red floated in the bowl. Many original prints show the opalesque effect of blue and red pigments separating as a consequence of not being frequently stirred. Furthermore, as prints fade, the red should fade at a faster rate enhancing the blue.

Colour variation in the temple: There was no indication that darker red or brick red temples were earlier. All prints were bright red before four layers of shadow and baren suji-zuri blocks were layered on top. In my reproduction, the red colour darkened throughout the batch. Firstly because a small amount of keyblock sumi transferred to the block on each impression darkening successive impressions. Secondly, when applying shadow blocks, for which darkness is very much at the discretion of the printer and difficult to consistently maintain, as pigment built in the block, later impressions off the block were darker, less of a bright red and closer to a dark rich red. As prints fade, the reds should fade to a red-orange colour.

Sequence	Date	Frequency	Remarks
1	1925	4%	Round 6mm seal exclusively. These impressions showed the least wear. Undamaged keyblock and original colour blocks. The 6mm seal exclusively was consistent with other early Watanabe prints dating from 1924 and 1925. The seal was always seen in middle-left inside of the image. Two impressions had No 14 Hiyoshi-cho, Kyobashi-ku Tokyo address labels on versos indicating that they were sold between 1925 and 1929. Scholten Japanese Art also found an image of sequence 1 or 2 illustrated in The Studio: A Magazine of Fine and Applied Art, November 1927. Examples: Chazen 1980.749, MFA 35.1890, San Diego 1946.29.26
2	1926	2%	Round 6mm seal with Hotei 'B' seal. Dual 6mm and Hotei 'B' seals was consistent with other early Watanabe prints in 1926. The 6mm seal was always seen in middle-left inside of the image with the Hotei 'B' seal nearby in the left margin. Examples: Christie's auction 2725 lot 602, Scholten 10-5786.
3	1926≤x≤1930	10%	Hotei 'B' seal in left margin. Impressions close to seq. 2 except for the absence of 6mm seal.
4	1926≤x≤1930	17%	Hotei 'B' seal in right margin. These impressions were close to seq. 3 although showed just a little more block wear. The keyblock lines on the stairs are starting to break. The kimono lining was now the colour of the temple in many impressions. Impressions from this seq onward generally showed weakly printed shadows under the lower roof, probably weak from a single printing impression. These shadows look like a grid pattern and required a double printing impresssion in my reproduction. This suggested that placement of seal changed over time and was not random.
5	1929≤x≤1930	5%	Hotei 'B' seal in right margin with series title cartouche. The introduction of the series title cartouche Twenty Views of Tokyo 東京二十景. Hasui scholar Hisao Shimizu proposed that the introduction of the series cartouche was late. This and other prints in the series very likely suggested a cartouche introduction in 1929. The Twenty Views of Tokyo series was not mentioned in the Toledo Catalogue (March 1930) nor do any prints in the Toledo collection show the series cartouche. Black ink cartouche stamp.
6	1930≤x≤1932	7%	Hotei 'C' seal with series title cartouche. The keyblock upper-right tree showed new damage not seen previously - something being dropped on it or it being dropped. The same area was damaged again midway through sequence - or was perhaps recarved into a more convincing leaf - confirming that prints with Hotei 'C' seal and series cartouche were all earlier than those without cartouche. Further confirmation of series cartouche being earlier from chip in keyblock right stair. Illustrated in Watanabe's 1936 Catalogue (April 1935). Sepia ink cartouche stamp.
7	1930≤x≤1932	2%	Hotei 'C' seal without series title cartouche. Caveat emptor: a post-war print sold recently at a major auction house with fake Hotei 'C' seal and without cartouche.
8	1931≤x≤1934	11%	Hotei 'D' seal with original colour blocks. The final state with wholly original blocks. Damage to keyblock extreme rooftip and keyblock top-left during seq. Most impressions in seq featured type 1 of Hotei 'D' seal (colloquially referred to the Sausage seal). Type 1, based on this and other Watanabe prints, was 1931 to 1933. Type 2 was first seen on Hasui and Shinsui prints in 1934. Caveat emptor: the Hotei 'D' seal is the most commonly faked Watanabe seal including a Zojoji example sold recently at a major auction house.
9	≤1937	8%	Hotei 'E' seal with new umbrella block. New umbrella block. New block looked like a reproduction of the worn out original with deliberate and exaggerated embossing - not just a heavy baren but also the printer pressing paper down into the block with his fingers. The original umbrella block was never seen again. Earlier prints within sequence showed keyblock handrail was intact, later prints within sequence showed damaged handrail. After handrail was damaged, further keyblock damage to a sharp point top-centre and that too persisted hereafter.
10	≤1941	15%	Hotei 'E' seal with new blocks. New umbrella block and new scarf block. New blocks were quite different to original blocks. The original scarf block was never seen again. For reasons not entirely clear, the printers always looked after and washed blocks for the temple, but used and abused blocks for small colour areas. Increasing wear on keyblock just under top roofline.
11	≤1942	8%	Hotei 'D' seal with new blocks. More wear on keyblock just under top roofline and on the middle-left sky block than previous in sequence. Impressions in this sequence only featured type 2 of the Hotei 'D' seal (colloquially referred to as the Sausage seal).
12	≥1945	6%	No seals. New black robe block. All prints seen without seals were post-war. All prints seen with older faked seals were post-war. From now on use of very thick pigment, essentially gouache, which disguised that blocks were nearly unprintable. Gofun printed in the foreground, which its alkalinity prevents paper toning in the foreground. Post-war prints, with and without seals, often had either "Snow at Zojoji Temple, Hasui Kawase" or "Zojoji Temple, Tokyo, Hasui Kawase" written in English in the same hand in bottom margin.
=13		3%	Post-war 6mm. Actually 6.5mm. Fractionally more wear than previous in sequence. Seal on lower-left outside of image or lower-right inside.
=13		2%	'Gift' seal. Indistinguishable from previous in sequence. Seal always in bottom-right image. The so-called 'gift' seal appeared on Watanabe prints up to 1960.

Reproductions

Sequence	Date	Remarks
1	1934	Osaka Mainichi. Fractionally smaller than original.
2	≥2012	Sakai Kokodo. Carved by Motoharu Asaka.
3	≥2017	Watanabe. Round 7mm seal - actually 7.1mm. Seal in margin reads copyright Watanabe Shoichiro. Well carved, but reproduced with goma gradations in lieu of baren suji.
4	2022	Yours truly. Handcarved and handprinted from July to October 2022. Printed from 12 woodblocks in 28 impressions.

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updated April 2023