Tokuriki's Thirty-six Views of Mt. Fuji - In his fantastic "Thirty-six Views of Mt. Fuji" series, Tokuriki illustrated the beauty and majesty of Mt. Fuji, Japan's sacred mountain. The great peak appears at dawn and sunset, in rain and snow, from far away or dominating the horizon, but always as a serene symbol of the beauty and power of Japan. Tokuriki's wonderful landscapes illustrate traditional Japanese views, yet with a distinctly modern sensibility. The series was published between 1939 and 1940 by Uchida.
This Complete Set - This is an extremely rare complete set of carved blocks for Tokuriki's handsome "Izu Eri Coast" from his "Thirty-six Views of Mt. Fuji" series, published by Unsodo. The set comprises 10, double-sided cherry wood blocks, plus 1 print made from the blocks. Interestingly, this print does not utilize a key block with black outlines, so all the blocks were used to print colors. Pigments remain on the blocks, green, brown, golden yellow, tan, and several shades of blue. A few blocks have "X"s marked on them, we are not sure why. Paper remnants of the hanshita or preparatory drawing are still glued to some of the blocks. The colors were registered by aligning each print along an L-shaped kento mark on the lower right corner of each separate image.
Printing blocks are rarely seen on the market, and even more rarely found as complete sets for a single image. These intricately carved blocks offer a wonderful look at the incredible skill and complexity involved in creating a Japanese woodblock print. A once in a lifetime opportunity for a serious collector to add a block set from Tokuriki's masterwork "Thirty-six Views of Mt. Fuji" series to a collection.
Publisher - Kyoto Hanga-in
Artist - Tokuriki (1902 - 1999)
Size - Print 10 3/8" x 15" + margins as shown; block size and thickness varies; smallest block 8 1/2" x 16 1/2" x 7/8"; largest block 12" x 17 1/4" x 1"
Condition - Blocks: Worn, pigment remaining, writing on ends. Two blocks have a split in the wood at one end. Please see photos for details.
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