Print of picture by Masonobu Okumura.

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Posted by Brian South on December 02, 2001 at 22:49:37:

I have a print which I have owned for nearly forty years and which was in a portfolio of odd items owned by my family for at least thirty years before that. The print had a printed (typed ?) tag with five japanese characters and under them in English By Masonobu Okumura (1690-1768). Ukiyoye School. There is also a postage stamp like sticker with the words The Shibi Shon Tokyo. Because of this I have always assumed it to be some sort of reproduction produced around the turn of the century for tourists and have had it in a very tacky frame on my bedroom wall as it is an attractive piece of work.
The subject matter is of a reclining figure in richly decorated robes watching a much snaller figure holding a bow with a tiny fish halfway up the string presumably to entertain the cat. The cat is scratching its chin with a raised back paw and beside it is a minute kitten looking up at the fish. In the fore ground is a tray with three containers and alongside are two pipes with long stems and small bowls. The colours black, red and greyish blue appear printed but other colouring and gold appear to be hand painted. Detail is very fine and more is revealed with a magnifying glass. For example fingers are perhaps a millimetre wide and fine lines on the cats fur are perhaps three to a milimetre as are lines at the edges of hair. Colours are bright and certainly look younger than the age of the picture. However it does seem very well produced for a reproduction. Some of the detail such as texture on the cat and the major figures bare toes peeping from under her robe are delightful. The print is about 22.5 cm by about 34cm onpaper little thicker than tissue paper mounted on a bit of card.
How can I establish what it is ? Is it possible to peel the very flimsy print paper off its fly blown mounting card and stick it on a cleaner background so that it can go in a better frame ? It caught my eye forty years ago and is still an attractive print that probably deserves better display.

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: I have a print which I have owned for nearly forty years and which was in a portfolio of odd items owned by my family for at least thirty years before that. The print had a printed (typed ?) tag with five japanese characters and under them in English By Masonobu Okumura (1690-1768). Ukiyoye School. There is also a postage stamp like sticker with the words The Shibi Shon Tokyo. Because of this I have always assumed it to be some sort of reproduction produced around the turn of the century for tourists and have had it in a very tacky frame on my bedroom wall as it is an attractive piece of work. : The subject matter is of a reclining figure in richly decorated robes watching a much snaller figure holding a bow with a tiny fish halfway up the string presumably to entertain the cat. The cat is scratching its chin with a raised back paw and beside it is a minute kitten looking up at the fish. In the fore ground is a tray with three containers and alongside are two pipes with long stems and small bowls. The colours black, red and greyish blue appear printed but other colouring and gold appear to be hand painted. Detail is very fine and more is revealed with a magnifying glass. For example fingers are perhaps a millimetre wide and fine lines on the cats fur are perhaps three to a milimetre as are lines at the edges of hair. Colours are bright and certainly look younger than the age of the picture. However it does seem very well produced for a reproduction. Some of the detail such as texture on the cat and the major figures bare toes peeping from under her robe are delightful. The print is about 22.5 cm by about 34cm onpaper little thicker than tissue paper mounted on a bit of card. : How can I establish what it is ? Is it possible to peel the very flimsy print paper off its fly blown mounting card and stick it on a cleaner background so that it can go in a better frame ? It caught my eye forty years ago and is still an attractive print that probably deserves better display.

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