by UTAGAWA, Yoshitsuna. [Ittosai]
[Japan c.1848, n.p.]. A matching pair, large broadsides,very good, vegetal colored woodblock prints, hand-printed on hand made large Washi Kawaraban paper, size ca: 36.5 x 50 cm., with title cartouche & adjacent texts. A RARE SET COMPLETE . *** **** *** . . . GORDON E. MESTLER'S PERSONAL COLLECTION COPY . . . A SPECTACULAR . . . GRAND & DELUXE BROADSIDES . . . A RARE MATCHING PAIR . . . OF COLOR WOODBLOCK ANATOMICAL PRINTS . . *** This is very RARE matching pair of examples illustrating the function of all male and female organs. . MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY IN JAPAN IN THE MID-19TH CENTURY: In 1848, the general understanding of "medicine" in the daily lives of the common Japanese was exceptionally limited. They believed in superstitions, some believed in primitive Chinese-related traditional and ancient medical practices, most of which were anecdotal. . Japanese of this period had little factual knowledge and lacked reliable, "medical" knowledge of how their bodies actually functioned. The name of and workings of various organs were not well understood. . * With the appearance of this set of Deluxe Kawara-Ban [broadside] size color print showing the bodily functions and organ names had a great impact and value on a society of rather ignorant people. Hitherto these people only had rudimentary concepts on the workings of their own bodies. These prints gave graphic insights to the workings and functions in laymen terms. . * A unique look at how ingenious Japanese physicians conceived of and applied known native concepts of "medical technology" and expanded on that to give ordinary Japanese a better insight to actual bodily functions. These physicians utilized every-day products to explain and relate the complex functions of the human organism. A graphic look at the workings of human anatomy expanded the horizons of most Japanese. This set of prints accomplished the goals of physicians achieving superb results. . * THE WORKING OF THE ORGANS: Collecting teams of miniature male or female workers, the bodily functions were reduced to common, familiar & daily activities of rural Japanese in terms of farming, metallurgy, grain production. Also the common practice of making of essential oils. Each graphically shown in easy terms of contemporary technological images and supported with easy text and vocabulary, to facilitate understanding. . The average Japanese of this period understood and had observed these methods of production, it was natural to assume the human body worked along similar lines. Using examples from daily life helped to insure good understanding of the body. . *** DESCRIPTION OF THE PAIR OF PRINTS: This superb and most rare example consists of the complete set of two color woodcut prints: . MALE PRINT INSHOKU YOYO KAGAMI [Literal: REFLECTIONS ON MALE ORGAN FUNCTIONS] . This shows an ordinary Edo period [1604-1868] Japanese man drinking a cup of hot Sake [rice wine], with a tray of celebratory food before him on a tray. Perhaps it was New Years. The tray has a red snapper with ginger. He is seated and as he drinks, the internal organs are identified from the top: lungs, heart, liver, pancreas, stomach, the large & small intestines. . There is a profusion of descriptive text surrounding the illustration, with red lines to indicate the function of each organ, which is described in much detail. The prints are a visual map to the body and its complex organs and functions. . MALE ORGANS: . The heart shows GREED: little men bringing gold to the boss, while he pours over his account book. The lungs are shown as a team of men with giant fans making the exchange of air possible, resulting in breathing. . Other workers in the stomach illustrate a team of labors with bamboo poles or yokes on their shoulder with wooden buckets suspended at each end, carrying food being moved about. Other little men shovel and hoe food around. . A worker climbs up a ladder to the heart to dump food. The process of cleansing [creation & movement of urine] is shown as a group of men pouring buckets of liquid in a press to filter and extract. . As the food moves down through the digestion process the last stop is the "Mon" or "gate," controlled by two "gate keepers" who allow the flow and refuse to depart. . *** FEMALE PRINT: "BOJI YOYO NO KAGAMI" Literal: "Reflections on Female Organ Functions." . Like the male example this print shows the complete body with the organ functions, and the resulting bi-products. Biological function is enhanced by emotional motives, other characteristics are portrayed in a similar manner. In the female print, small women do the bodily work to make the organs function. . * This superb and most RARE example, shows a Japanese Oiran [common prostitute] at leisure. She has the typical and elaborate coiffeur, with hair pins, dressed in a stunning silk Kimono. She displays another sign of her profession with her upper lip painted red, the lower lip in green. This was a standard followed by prostitutes of that period. It is a common feature in Shunga [erotic Japanese woodcut books]. . She sits beside her black and gold lacquered smoking box, while she is smoking a "Kiseru" pipe. Draped over the handle of the smoking box is a large group of Chirishi [toilet paper] used to wipe after love-making, this is an common erotic symbol in Shunga . The illustration was created like a pictorial map of bodily functions, with a large crew of tiny women workers who labor to make the body perform digestion and all related other functions. . At the top, as the woman inhales the smoke, there are two tiny women who operate the mechanical bellows [often used in Japanese metal & Samurai sword production] by pushing & pulling to 'pump' & fan lung activity. One woman 'pumps' rests while the other rests. Another pair of female workers have hand held fans as an auxiliary to lung pumping. . The heart is surrounded by flames, indicating this is the source of passion and emotions. Greed is displayed by a woman who is a bookkeeper, she counts the money, another is in charge of money or gold "Ryo" coins. These two areas are in her naked breast. . The right side shows a mother scolding a child for taunting cats. The process of digestion begins just under this area with a team of women who haul buckets of food. Another pair of female workers tend the "Kama" or rice cooker made of metal held over a fire with another worker who blows through a bamboo tube to force the fire to surge, which in turn "fires" the emotions of the heart. . Others female workers haul rice, tea & other things to eat on a small pathway leading towards a stone grain [grist] grinder attended by two other workers who turn the mill wheel while the other rakes the grain. . Other organs are represented by a woman who fans the hot food to cool it before it proceeds along the digestive path. The results of the grist mill is poured into what appears as circular intestines dividing the results into liquid and solid. The solid is raked into fields [a typical use by farmers to fertilize crops, commonly called "night soil." . The liquid travels downward to be discharged. Adjacent to the uterus are the fallopian tubes, which shows an elder women in a fine Kimono holding fans. One shows a very old woman with a cane being tended by a younger woman. . The internal organs are identified from the top: lungs, heart, liver, pancreas, stomach, small & large intestines. . * THE SURROUNDING TEXT: There is a profusion of text surrounding and within the illustration, with oval paragraph markers. Each paragraph explains the function of an organ. In the heart, GREED is the subject of the illustrated, as a woman bring Gold down a ladder from above the throat. . This is a superb example created for the common woman to understand her complex body functions in a simple graphic visual aid. The Japanese characters are written in simple language, understandable by the least educated person. . It is interesting to note, that the female subject of this print is not an ordinary woman, but rather a prostitute. The symbolist message was that it would have been improper to expose the internal and sex organs of anyone other than a prostitute. . *** PHYSICAL DIFFERENCES BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN: The pair of prints clearly shows the major physical differences between the men and women. Also indicating their differing emotions and how gender affects psychological factors influencing bodily functions. . *** THE EDUCATIONAL USE AND APPLICATION OF THESE MEDICAL PRINTS: The Japanese understanding of their own bodily functions in the mid-19th. century was very limited and basic. This set of prints were used as educational tools by physicians and medical doctors to explain medical problems and causes of illness to the lay public. . They were also used by medical teachers to give students a graphic insight to the bodily functions. The explanations were expressed in very simple, easy to understand terms. . * VARIANTS IN THE MALE PRINT: There are three variants to the male print: . a. The man wears a black and white plaid Kimono over one shoulder with a bottle of Sake near his left hand, with the artist's signature and censor's seal, with gray background. . b. The same similar print of the man but without the Kimono and the bottle of Sake is at his right hand side, with a green background at the bottom one third of the illustration. Without the artist's signature or seals. . See Nakahara cited below, pp. 144 & 145 i.e. illustrations numbers 114 & 115 for variants a. & b. . * VARIANTS IN THE FEMALE PRINT: There was only one variant. It was later issued in a "cheap edition," without color. It was issued in "key blocks" or with black outline only. . This reliable detail was presented to us in a hand-written letter from Dr. Richard Lane. Lane was a respected scholar, author and collector of Japanese woodblock prints and Ehon. . We carried on a correspondence over the years and often visited him in Kyoto. . The letter was dated January 30, 1978. He state to regarding this set of prints: "...My books are 1/2 started & I've only found "medical" discussion of the "male" print [by a scholar who was unaware of the "female" one--which is rarer]--the [one] I know. There's a discussion of the banning of the latter, somewhere. However, I have dug out my own 1967 very preliminary study of them and enclose this shows the NON-colored, later ["cheaper"] version of the 'female,' but the "male" is a similar version to yours. You can quote [me] this if desired." . See also Lane's 2 page article on this pair of prints in ASIA SCENE December 1967, pp.113-114 with illustrations. . The female print was never signed, nor censor sealed. Per Dr. Lane, he believed the print was prohibited as being considered "licentious" by the Shogunate. Therefore the print never had the artist's signature nor the Kiwame [censor's ] seal of approval. . Any print of the Edo period lacking artist's signature and Kiwame seal means an unauthorized printing and publication. . During the Edo period all publications: prints, books and maps had to have the Shogunate censor's approval and seal carved into the woodblocks. . In the case of the female print the first example was refused Kiwame seal because it was a nude woman. Later it was published illegally. . Because this female print was never approved its numbers are fewer than the male companion, which received the Kiwame seal, other variants have no seal or artist's signature. Its unclear which came first, by and large an educated gues is the unsigned ones were earlier than the signed example. . Unsealed books and prints without the Kiwame were considered as 'contraband' and sold covertly. . *** RARITY: Dr. Lane's letter cited above: "...[the] "female" one --which is rarer..." Gives us a very good insight to this piece of vital information. Dr. Lane had lived in Japan from the early 1950's and had a major collection of Japanese Ehon [illustrated books] and Shunga [erotic prints, books]. He also had a copy of these two prints in his collection, and was in a position to know what "rare" was. His comment that the "female" print was "RARER" was an opinion based on living, writing and collecting Japanese woodblock printed works in Japan for more than 28 years. * In his letter he even cites a Japanese scholar's unawareness of the existence of the "female" print ! . It is understandable, that indeed the "female" print remains substantially rarer than the male counterpart. We assume that the woodblock print run was limited to about 200 only copies as the cherry wood blocks would shrink and dry out, becoming 'checked' and the later printings were greatly inferior to the first run. . *** THE DELUXE KAWARA BAN GRAND SIZE OF THE PRINT: One of the most fascinating aspects of this set is that they were printed on paper approximately double of the standard Oban size [ca. 23 x 36 cm.], meaning this was an exceptionally large and costly kind of Washi [handmade paper]. . KAWARA BAN [DELUXE GRAND SIZE] CHERRY WOODBLOCKS: The size of the Kawara Ban required double-sized woodblocks, meaning the cost was much greater than the standard Oban size. Finding such heart cherry wood was difficult and expensive. Nevertheless this set was printed in the Kawara Ban Deluxe double size. It was common during the Edo period to print maps using many Oban-size blocks, then gluing each sheet together. This was not the case in this set of prints. . NUMBER OF BLOCKS REQUIRED: Because the use of color required a separate block for each color, it took no less than seven blocks including the "key block." The colors used were: black, blue green, yellow, red and pink. . This was a very large number of Kawara-ban size woodblock, needed to create a single polychrome print. During the Edo period there are very few examples of Kawara-ban size prints due to the extravagant costs. . * "DO-GOODERS" PRODUCE THIS SET OF PRINTS FOR THE PUBLIC: * Therefore, given the large and extra costs to produce this set of prints, in terms of super-sized blocks and extra large "Kawara Ban" hand-made "Washi" paper, in addition to the carving and printing costs, are clear examples of a great desire to bring these prints to the public's eye. It is therefore worthy to contemplate that the actual costs of these prints were partially borne by "do-gooders" in the medical community*** [see footnote below]. In that cast, in our opinion, the "male" part was produced in two printings and variants, in total yielding about 400 prints in all [i.e. 200 per each printing]. The "female" print was done in a single version, yielding about 200 copies in all. The later, "cheap" edition that Dr. Lane has spoken of is not something we have ever seen nor found in any collections throughout the world, and we now question the actual existence of any "key block" editions of either or both prints. The examples he used in his ASIA SCENE article seem to have been the colored versions. Therefore we feel that in all there were no more than about 400 prints of the two "male" editions and no more than 200 of the "female" edition, thus the understandable comment from Dr. Lane comment about the "female" version being the "RARER" of the two prints. * FOOTNOTE: A prime example of a "do-gooder" was Matsukawa Hanzan was a grand innovator who took it upon himself to educate the average Japanese in agriculture, nature, natural science, medicine and a host of other "foreign and Western technological and scientific subjects. Perhaps he or group of his like-minded colleagues collected their assets to produce this set of prints for the general education and benefit to the public good. . WHO WAS THE ARTIST UTAGAWA YOSHITSUNA [Aka. ITTOSAI]: Yoshitsuna was a fine pupil of the famous Ukiyo-E woodblock print artist Utagawa Kuniyoshi. Ittosai was known as a Ukiyo-E printmaker, who had the skill and experience to produce this magnificent set of works. . *** YOSHITSUNA'S BURNING DESIRE TO FINISH HIS SERIES OF TWO: . Based on the fact that there was no signature nor Shogunate censor's seal on the "female" print, we must assume that Yoshitsuna had a burning desire to finish his series. He may have been one of those people who had no compunctions about disregarding what he felt was the public's "need to know" about their own sexuality and their own bodily functions. He was obviously willing to risk all by printing the second part of this series about the female body. Anyone in the Shogunate government would know, by looking at the "female" print that it must have been done by the one-in-the-same as the artist who did the "male" version. The profile is the exact; both the "male" and "female" look to their right, both show the same kind of pose, both have the same open structure of the internal organs, both show the actions of the internal organs as staffed by miniature humans: men for the "male" print; women for the "female" print. Both are of the same physical size. "male" ca. 38.5 x 51.5 cm., "female" 37 x 50.5 cm. Both have title cartouche at the upper right corner. Stylistically, they are remarkably similar in composition and nature. These are indeed the works of the same artist, See Nakahara for authorship proof. . *** CONDITION: . These prints are rare and seldom found in a matching pair on the open market. Each print has been professionally re-backed in Japan, using rice glue and hand-made very thin "Washi" paper to reinforce and give substance to the original tissue-like paper that was very thin and fragile. . The "male" print is exceptionally clean, but has been previously been folded three times and shows some dustiness on some of the fold lines; there is a faint blemish on his left elbow and knee, with an occasional 3-4 small blemishes here and there. The paper is solid and the registry is very good, with clear text and images throughout. There are two or three small pin holes which are covered and solid with the re-backing, all-in-all a very good example of an exceptionally rare print. . The "female" print has been previously folded 3-4 times and shows some dustiness on some of the fold lines; there are two black "collector's seals" chops in the lower right outside margin, with a few small discoloration's here and there. There was some weakness to one or two fold lines plus some old minor worming, the upper & lower left corner areas had some loss, all of which are now stabilized with the re-backing. There is an overall slight dustiness and a bit of rubbing here and there, the print is now stable and sold. . *** Charmingly illustrated in much detail, beautifully composed and executed. Excellent registry and color, a stunning example. . *** REFERENCES & BIBLIOGRAPHY: * Gordon E. Mestler: A GALAXY OF OLD JAPANESE MEDICAL BOOKS WITH MISCELLANEOUS NOTES ON EARLY MEDICINE IN JAPAN. This set of prints are not listed in his book. Because these prints were acquired when we bought his entire collection we can only assume these items were collected after he published GALAXY, in 1957. . Although this pair is from Mestler's private collection, this cataloger can only assume these prints were not included because he acquired them after the publication of his historic GALAXY. An exact photograph of the male print was found among a group of 24 exhibition photos in his collection. * Nakahara Sen.: MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF DENTISTRY IN UKIYO-E, illustrates one example of the female print on p.143, plate #113 and two versions of the male print on pp.144-145, #'s 224 & 225 for variants a.. & b. The artist for all three is cited as [UTAGAWA] Yoshitsuna Ittosai, with a brief explanation of all three on p.156.The female print and the male print without his Kimono both lack any artist's signature or Kiwame. Only the male print showing a Samurai with the checkered Kimono has the artist signature. * L. Roberts: DICTIONARY OF JAPANESE ARTISTS, p.204 cites Utagawa Yoshitsuna who flourished 1848-1868, his "Go" or "studio name" Ittosai.. . *** ARTIST NAME AND CONTROVERSY: * Dr. Richard Lane, Japanese woodblock print and Ehon scholar, collector gave us a hand-corrected copy of his article on this set of prints he researched for an essay in ASIA SCENE, 1967. . In this article, he changed his hither to attribution from "Utagawa School ca. 1840's to be [Yoshimune]. It must be remembered, that Lane's article was a "work in progress" and therefore subject to final confirmation as to the artist's name. . Several years later, we acquired the male version of the print with the author's signature and Kiwame [censor's seal] thus once and for all settling the artist's name. . * We have included a scan from an unknown newspaper [?] article, perhaps an announcement for a Smithsonian MUSEUM OF HISTORY & TECHNOLOGY exhibition, no date cited. * Pierre Huard. et al: CHINESE MEDICINE, page 85, he cites this as "...the physiology of digestion according to Chinese & Japanese theories." He has mistakenly attributed this to Utagawa Kunisada. . --.: LA MEDICINE JAPONAISE DES ORIGINES A NOS JOURS: JAPANESE MEDICINE FROM THE BEGINNING TO THE PRESENT, color planche 15, color example of the male print, on p.380-381, he provides an explanation of the print, yet and again wrongly attributed as per above to Utagawa Kunisada! At least he is consistent ! * MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY IN JAPAN CA. 1848: An unusual look at how the Japanese conceived of and applied known native "technology" used in the making of daily and common products related to human anatomy. Collecting teams of male or female workers, the bodily functions were reduced to familiar and daily known methods of farming, metallurgy, grain production, essential oils, in easy terms of contemporary technological vocabulary, to facilitate easy understanding by common Japanese. Most every one in Japan during this time understood and had observed these methods of production, so it was natural to assume that the body worked along similar lines. Using examples from daily life helped to insure understanding of the body via these terms. * [GRMEK, M.D.] et al. LA MEDECINE JAPONAISE. Illustrates the male portion of the pair in his work as plate III, He also cites Utagawa Kunisada as the artist, both he and Huard [his co-author] cite the exact copy found in UCLA Medical library. He offers no title on this item. * Richard Lane. Original letter sent to us held on file. * Sen Nakahara: MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF DENTISTRY IN UKIYOE: see p.143 and plate #113, also for the male version, see pp. 144-145, #'s 114 & 115 for variants a. & b. With brief explanation on p.156. * OBSCURE REFERENCE: Richard Lane.: ASIA SCENE, December 1967, POPULAR ANATOMY AND POPULAR PIONEER SURGEONS. Illustrates the male and female prints. pp.113-114, Lane attributes the artist to be the "Utagawa school ca. 1840's" and he penned in the copy of this article to us the name to be Yoshimune as a guess, but that was incorrect. Yoshimune [1817-1880] could not be the artist because we later acquired a copy of the male version which clearly states the artist's name to be Utagawa Ittosai, but surely of the same Utagawa Kuniyoshi school. Ittosai was a star pupil of Kuniyoshi. pp.113-114, Lane attributes the artist to be the "Utagawa school ca. 1840's" and he penned in the copy of this article to us the name to be Yoshimune as a guess, but that was incorrect. Yoshimune [1817-1880] could not be the artist because we later acquired a copy of the male version which clearly states the artist's name to be Utagawa Ittosai, but surely of the same Utagawa Kuniyoshi school. Ittosai was a star pupil of Kuniyoshi. * An another illustration of the male print companion was found in an obscure & unknown newspaper [?] announcement of a Smithsonian MUSEUM OF HISTORY & TECHNOLOGY exhibition, no date cited. . *** .
(Inventory #: 25077701)