A LARGE COLLECTION OF JAPANESE WOODBLOCK PRINTS

A LARGE COLLECTION OF JAPANESE WOODBLOCK PRINTS
MEIJI ERA, 19TH CENTURY

Comprising over twenty triptychs mounted on two long handscrolls, including prints by Mizuno Toshikata (1866-1908), Kobayashi Kiyochika (1847-1915), Ogata Gekko (1859-1920), Adachi Ginko (act. 1874-1897) and others, depicting scenes from the Sino-Japanese War; the first scroll with twenty-one oban triptychs, six by Toshikata and two by Kiyochika, including one titled Heijo kogeki denki shiyo no zu (Night Attack on Pyong-yang); the other scroll with twenty-two triptychs and five single oban prints, including six by Toshikata; two by Gekko, one titled Nisshin senso Kinshujo tsuigeki no zu (The Sino-Japanese War: Attack on Jinzhou Castle) and one by Kiyochika, together with five oban sheets by Kiyochika from the series Nihon banzai hyakusen hyakusho (One Hundred Victories, One Hundred Laughs); together with a tomobako (wood box) inscribed Seishin gafu (Illustrated Book of the Sino-Japanese War), each triptych approx. 36cm x 71cm. (3)

Provenance: from an English private collection, Devon; acquired from Bonhams London, Fine Japanese Art, 16th May 2019, lot 289.