Hasegawa Sadanobu III (Konobu III) Rare Japanese Woodblock Castle Hikone-jo
Beautiful and rare Koban size woodblock print of a snow covered Hikone Castle (, Hikone-jo) in Winter. This building is a Japanese Edo-period castle located in the city of Hikone, Shiga Prefecture, Japan. This print is from an extremely rare series of landscapes by Konobu III published by Uchida in the 1950's from what I have discovered. He is best known for images of people and animals, and he used bold color and traditional techniques to create wonderful depictions of kabuki theater, bunraku puppet theater and scenes and events from Japanese legends and medieval history. He was born in Osaka as the son of Sadanobu II. He was the pupil of Shijo painter Ueda Kocho, and later became a pupil of Utagawa Sadamasu, becoming a member of the Osaka school. Most of the woodblock prints by Sadanobu Hasegawa III were made after World War II and published by Uchida. The print is nicely framed and the back is sealed.
I have not opened the back to verify the method of mounting or to examine the back of the print. The frame has a small chip in the top right corner (see photos).
Frame is approx 14"w x 12"h - Koban print is roughly 9"w x 7"h. I did not wish to compromise it in any way, but I feel confidant it was handled properly based on other acquisitions with similar provenance. There is also a companion piece to this one in our shop. Acquired from the estate of a medical doctor in Texas.