Posted by Hans Olof Johansson on January 10, 19100 at 10:29:13:
In Reply to: Re: help indentifying a signature posted by Hans Olof Johansson on December 30, 1999 at 14:31:32:
Thanks to your images, I believe I have managed to identify the artist, though I'm not very good at interpreting this kind of cursive Japanese writing.
To me, the hairstyle and the posture of the woman clearly indicates the early 19th century and the so-called decadents: Kunisada, Kuniyoshi, Eisen and their contemporary painters of bijinga. However, the print itself appears to be of a much later date, perhaps the early 20th century. This is impossible to verify without examining the print, though.
If I'm not totally mistaken, the signature reads Kikugawa Eishû fude. This Eishû was a pupil of Eizan, and he should not be confused with another Eishû, who was a pupil of Eishi and whose name is written with a different character for shû.
I have found no records of Eishü ever making any designs for woodblock prints. He seems to be known solely as a painter of bijinga. Of course, this also supports my theory that your picture is a woodblock print reproduction of an older painting.
These reproductions of earlier ukiyo-e paintings seem to have been popular from the mid-1890s onwards. I have seen many examples, where an exquisite printing technique really mimics many of the qualities of an original painting.
I have not been able to interpret the seal. To somebody more knowledgeable, this could possibly be a clue to when this print was produced.
Best regards,
Hans Olof