Featured REAL (OLD) WOODBLOCK PRINT BY HIROSHIGE ANDO (1797 - 1858) OR MODERN COPY?

I found this at a local thrift store & when I saw the COA/info on the back I got excited - but the print is so clean + I can't see any impressions from the wood block being pushed into the paper - that I am wondering what do I really have?
Any help would be appreciated.

 

Start here?

Kyoto handicraft center

Japanese traditional printing techniques and woodblock prints are true works of art, and often receive the attention of numerous craftsmen in the production process and also in the finishing stages.
As a publisher for woodblock prints, we have a wide array of goods, from original woodcuts and reissues of Uchida woodblock print, to modern woodblock prints and new print arts, as well as Ukiyo-e.

 

What does the little silver plaque say?

 

Ahhhh...

 

scoutshouse - do you think it's new or old?

 

Hi @journeymagazine

I honestly don't know. You say you dont see any impressions, so that may be all you need to know.

I tried to see if I could order a hiroshige, but the page is just road map to a vast wholesale enterprise, so I'm thinking a nice Kyoto handicraft center print.

Maybe they have some angle on quality and authorization of antique prints??

 

I have woodblock prints that I don't remember showing impressions.

Woodblock printing is like stamping, where the ink is put on the woodblock and then pressed on the paper's surface. I could be wrong, but I don't think much pressure is needed.

 

Viewing Japanese Prints

Utagawa Hiroshige: Hakone: Kosui no zu
(Original compared to a recut Meiji edition)

 

I searched Kyoto handicraft center hiroshige

Of the 11 that came up, the price ranged for 10 were between $18 to $75.

One was $399 - the seller states:
I took a close of view of the print. There is no dots like you would see on a lithograph. This is the real deal.

I'm guessing they are contemporary khc prints, and that one got a pass? But that shouldn't stop you from investigating further. I hope that's helpful.

 

Thank you!

 

It is a reprint. So a genuine woodblock print, but probably made in the last 50yrs, so not by Hiroshige himself, but by the Uchida art company.
I have one by Uchida as well, also a reprint of a Hiroshige, but from a different series. I bought mine second hand about 25 yrs ago.

Some info on Uchida:
http://www.baxleystamps.com/litho/misc/uchida_woodblock_prints.shtml

http://www.myjapanesehanga.com/home/articles/uchida-articles

 

I had a similar type reprint years ago. The wood blocks still exist and they are used to reprint the image. These reprints have some value, just not very much.

 

It looks like a label to me that does not certify it is authentic anything.

 

I agree, it simply gives the right information. I think it is fair to say that a Kyoto Art Center with a telephone number would not have existed in Hiroshige's day.

I just looked at the label on mine and feel cheated. Mine doesn't say 4 phone lines.

 

I have two prints by Hiroshige Ando, bought at auction with little further information. I did a bit of research, trying not to drown in the info available and got the impression that, in terms of any authenticity, size does matter here. My prints are tiny and apparently the right size for an original woodblock print. I'm certainly not sure about this yet but wondered if anyone knows more about this. The print in this posting looks quite big.

 

Ronin Gallery - DECODING UKIYO-E: STANDARD SIZES

Try here?

 

Thanks, scoutshouse. Off to measure.

 

As it says in the link scouts posted, ukiyo-e can be very big pillar prints, quite small, and several sizes in between. I have a few small ones by Hokusai and a slightly bigger one by Kuniyoshi, probably the same size you have, but also a bigger print for a fan leaf (of course ). The fan leaf was made ca 1890 by Kajita Hanko, a relatively late artist, transitional between the old ukiyo-e and modern artists.
My Hiroshige reprint is chuban size, the same size as the original of the series. It is a reprint of this one: