Page 109 - Bonhams Fine Japanese Art London Nov. 2019

162 *
KYOKYOSHI (DATES UNKNOWN)
EXCITED TRAVELER
Taisho era (1912-1926), early 20th century
Kakejiku (hanging scroll), ink and colours on paper in silk mounts,
depicting a gigantically aroused traveller in traditional dress, his head
invisible beneath his folded umbrella, standing on one leg, with cherry
blossoms falling through a willow tree and down to the ground, a misty
sun or moon in the upper background, inscribed with a 14-character
Chinese inscription (see below); signed Kyokyoshi giboku
(Inked for fun by Kyokyoshi) and sealed Kyokyoshi.
Overall: 211cm x 51cm (83in x 20in);
image: 129cm × 52cm (50¾in × 20½in).

£800 - 1,000
JPY110,000 - 130,000
US$990 - 1,200
The inscription may be translated ‘Flowers and willows were originally
held in common; we do not allow wealthy guests to monopolize our
sexual services’. It is not known who used the nickname Kyokyoshi
(The Doubly Crazy Kid) that appears as the signature to this lot, but
the first half of the inscription—花柳元是共有物—is documented as
an example of the many graffiti written on the white-plastered walls of 163
the Café Printemps, a bohemian haunt that opened in Tokyo’s Ginza
district in 1911. Operated by the Western-style painter Matsuyama
Shozo, Café Printemps was frequented by many of the leading artistic
and literary figures of the day, often accompanied by geisha; see
Count Yoshii Isamu (1886-1960), Seishun kaiko (Memoirs of My Youth),
paragraph 9, accessible at https://www.aozora.gr.jp/cards/001497/
files/51240_41907.html.

163 *
AFTER SHIBATA ZESHIN (1807–1891)
CROWS IN FLIGHT
Meiji era (1868-1912), late 19th/early 20th century
Urushi (lacquer) on paper, framed and glazed, depicting three crows
in flight, one partly cropped by the right-hand side of the composition,
their feathers rendered in lustrous black lacquer, with signature
Zeshin and seal Shin; with a cloth-covered cardboard box.
Overall: 54.5cm x 70.5cm (21½in x 27¾in);
image: 35cm x 45.5cm (13¾in x 17 7/8in). (2).

£1,000 - 1,500 164
JPY130,000 - 200,000
US$1,200 - 1,900

164 *
ARTISTS UNKNOWN
SCENES OF LOVEMAKING
Taisho (1912-1926) and Showa (1926-1989) era,
early/mid-20th century
Two makimono (horizontal narrative handscrolls) by two different
hands, each painted in ink and colours on silk; the first comprising
eleven separate scenes of lovemaking, mounted on a silk backing
with stylized gold cloud patterns, concluding with a single night
scene of a man and his dog; the second compromising six scenes
of lovemaking, within a striped silk border, one scene including a
depiction of a storage box possibly dated Showa 23 (1948), the first
scene with two seals; each with a wood storage box.
The first: 312cm x 22cm (123¾in x 8 5/8in),
each scene: 17.6cm x 22.1cm (7in x 8¾in);
the second: 324cm x 25.5cm (127½in x 10in),
each scene: 22cm x 32.5cm (8 5/8in x 12¾in). (4). 164

£800 - 1,000
JPY110,000 - 130,000
US$990 - 1,200

For details of the charges payable in addition to the final Hammer Price of each Lot
please refer to paragraphs 7 & 8 of the Notice to Bidders at the back of the catalogue. FINE JAPANESE ART | 107