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Lot 364*
Okumura Masanobu (1686–1764) Dated 1711
11 November 2010, 14:30 GMT
London, New Bond StreetSold for £7,200 inc. premium
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Find your local specialistOkumura Masanobu (1686–1764)
Dated 1711
A rare and complete set of twelve woodblock prints with hand-colouring depicting the Korean Embassy procession and their retinue, published by Tsuruya Kiemon in 1711, comprising:
1) Four yakko (servants) leading a horse and carrying boxes behind four samurai, walking, signed Tobu Yamato gashi Okumura Masanobu ga (Picture by Eastern Japanese artist Okumura Masanobu) with seal Masanobu.
2) Four yakko leading a horse and carrying boxes walking in front of four Korean men carring flags and spears.
3) Nine Korean men: two on horses with flags, three behind, two carrying scrolls and two holding spears.
4) Ten Korean men wearing hats, holding spears and flags.
5) Twelve Korean men: ten playing drums and trumphets; two carrying swords.
6) Eight Korean men: four blowing shells and trumphets; two carrying sticks; two officials on horseback carrying bows and arrows.
7) Two Korean men on horseback, with four other Koreans walking behind; four yakko carrying an altar box behind two samurai.
8) An ambassador carried by four Japanese samurai servants with one samurai accompanying as well as six Korean men.
9) An ambassador carried by four Japanese servants and accompanied by both Japanese and Korean men.
10) One ambassador carried by Japanese servants, another in a carriage, accompanied by both Japanese and Korean retainers.
11) One Korean official on horseback, followed by two Japanese servants carrying boxes and four samurai.
12) One Japanese official in a carriage followed by his servants and retainers, signed with the name of the publisher Odenma Sanchome Tsuruya Kiemon han;
each framed within cardboard and contained within a leather-bound chitsu, painted in gilt with the Chinese character Mae and the myoga mon. Each sheet approx. 30cm x 38cm (11¾in x 15in). (13).
A rare and complete set of twelve woodblock prints with hand-colouring depicting the Korean Embassy procession and their retinue, published by Tsuruya Kiemon in 1711, comprising:
1) Four yakko (servants) leading a horse and carrying boxes behind four samurai, walking, signed Tobu Yamato gashi Okumura Masanobu ga (Picture by Eastern Japanese artist Okumura Masanobu) with seal Masanobu.
2) Four yakko leading a horse and carrying boxes walking in front of four Korean men carring flags and spears.
3) Nine Korean men: two on horses with flags, three behind, two carrying scrolls and two holding spears.
4) Ten Korean men wearing hats, holding spears and flags.
5) Twelve Korean men: ten playing drums and trumphets; two carrying swords.
6) Eight Korean men: four blowing shells and trumphets; two carrying sticks; two officials on horseback carrying bows and arrows.
7) Two Korean men on horseback, with four other Koreans walking behind; four yakko carrying an altar box behind two samurai.
8) An ambassador carried by four Japanese samurai servants with one samurai accompanying as well as six Korean men.
9) An ambassador carried by four Japanese servants and accompanied by both Japanese and Korean men.
10) One ambassador carried by Japanese servants, another in a carriage, accompanied by both Japanese and Korean retainers.
11) One Korean official on horseback, followed by two Japanese servants carrying boxes and four samurai.
12) One Japanese official in a carriage followed by his servants and retainers, signed with the name of the publisher Odenma Sanchome Tsuruya Kiemon han;
each framed within cardboard and contained within a leather-bound chitsu, painted in gilt with the Chinese character Mae and the myoga mon. Each sheet approx. 30cm x 38cm (11¾in x 15in). (13).
Footnotes
墨摺絵 12枚一組 奥村政信 朝鮮通信使行列 1711年
This set is apparently the only complete set known and was seen and authenticated by Professor Toru Mori, curator of the Kyoto National Museum in 1963. An incomplete set, with two of the sheets lacking, is in The British Museum, illustrated by Lawrence Smith, Ukiyoe, Images of Unknown Japan, London 1988, pl.25.
The Korean embassy of 1711 made a huge impact in feudal Japan and these pictures of the event were printed on the orders of the military government. This is one of the earliest works of this major ukiyo-e artist and publisher.