Vadas József (szerk.): Ars Decorativa 10. (Budapest, 1991)

Új szerzemények 1987-1989 - Hopp Ferenc Kelet-Ázsiai Művészeti Múzeum

against the sewing-box, beside the box lies a loosely folded white piece of cloth. The pattern of the woman's upper kimono is as follows: on a brown flowery background are placed motifs of kiri (Paulownia) and chrysanthemum placed in a large circular field. The border of the collar is black. The upper kimono is held loosely together by a broad obi with a pale pink cherry-blossom pattern, under it a red undergarment is visible with a flowery pattern on the collar. The background is blue, fading upward, with a neutral pinkish border at the top. Relatively few colours are used. (Even the number of the printing-blocks used was restricted for several years by a decree dating from 1842.) Signature on the left in the middle: Ichiyusai Kuniyoshi ga, with the characteristic Kuniyoshi seal with a red kiri (Paulownia) under it, used by the artist after 1844. Seal of the censor : Kinugasa. According to these data this print can be ascribed to the year 1846. (The decree of 1842 introduced rather strict control and even certain themes were forbidden.) Below is the seal of the editor: Kadzusa-ya Iwazo. In the upper right corner the title of the series is printed with white characters on black (Ukiyo shi-ju-hachi kuse); beside it in a smaller red field is an inscription in cursive writing. The upper third of the picture contains a long cursive inscription. This series belongs to the rarely published works of Kuniyoshi. (Éva Cseh) 2. Ryujin, the dragon-king of the sea (netsuke) Boxwood carving. Japan, c. 1860. Height 8.4 cm. Inv. No. 87.18. (Gift of Mr. Dénes Jankó) Ryujin, the dragon-king of the sea, is represented as a half-naked fearsome bearded male figure holding in his hands the magic ball by which the ebb and flow of the sea are controlled. There is a dragon clinging to his back. The figure, depicted with great artistic force, is probably modelled after a picture in the Soken Kisho* representing a similar carving made by Yoshimura Shuzan, an outstanding master of the eighteenth century. The eighteenth-century style of this carving is further emphasized by the finely tinged patina. At the side a tiny signature : Roku-ko or Rokko. The only information we have concerning him is that he flourished around 1860. (Éva Cseh) 4. Dress for a woman with mirror glass Silk, silk thread, pieces of mirror glass India, Kutch (Gujarat) Late 19th or early 20th century Length 103 cm, breadth 76 cm Inv. No. 88.50 Acquisition: purchase In 1988, an embroidered ladies' gown from Kutch (in Gujarat) was added to the collection. There are many local varieties of this type of shirt or tunic in different parts of India, all of them much favoured by males and females alike. The Kutchi variety reaches to just below the knees, has short sleeves and no buttoning. Our piece was made of yellow silk for a female. The embroidery on it follows a traditional design of ornament at the neck, sleeves, bodice and hem and is worked with mauve, green, white and brown silk thread in stem stich, chain stich, open chain stich, interlaced stich around a central loop, and buttonhole stitch for affixing mirror discs. The fundamentally geometric conception of the pattern of the yoke-panel at the front of the * An illustrated work by Inaba Michitatsu in seven volumes, published in 1871 in Osaka, containing data about fifty-seen netsuke carving masters, among others. - Cf. The Meinertzhagen Card Index on Netsuke. New York, 1986. p. 799.