About These Prints
This print (IHL Cat. 111) was published by the Shima Art Company and is one of 10 designs by Kiyochika or “after Kiyochika” published by Shima between 1930 to 1940. It is shown on http://shotei.com/publishers/shima/catalog/shimalistkiyochika.htm and it is noted that this print is “after the original design by Kiyochika.”Below is Kiyochika's original c. 1877 print Rest House under the Moonlight at Imadobashi.

Rest House under the Moonlight at Imadobashi
The Library of Congress Prints and Drawings division shows a very similar print (see below) titled Yuki no horiwari 雪の掘割 (Canal in Snow), dated "between 1900 and 1920," attributed to an unknown artist1 Hyakurin (Hiyakurin 百鱗). The red oval seal in the lower left is unidentified.

Yuki no horiwara (Canal in Snow)
Library of Congress Prints and Drawings
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2008660533/
Library of Congress Prints and Drawings
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2008660533/
The publisher and origins of the smaller print (IHL Cat. 172) is unknown.
1 The British Museum makes reference to the name Hyakurin Sori (百琳宗理) as an "also known as" name for the famous artist Katsushika Hokusai 葛飾北斎 (1760-1849), but this is clearly not a work related to Hokusai.
The Publisher - Shima Art Company
Source: An article entitled "The History of My Grandparents' Business" by Kotaro Sumii on th Shotei website http://shotei.com/publishers/shima/history.htm

Shima committed to publish shin-hanga prints having their own seal imprinted and sold at lower prices. At least some of these prints were manufactured at Daikokuya of Tokyo. Shinnosuke Koizumi, who took over Daikokuya from the Matsuki family, collaborated with Shima, and they selected designs that would appeal to American taste. Another manufacturer of Shima's prints was the Daimaru Book Company, in Osaka. (This information was uncovered by Robert Schaap, in his examination of Robert Muller's files.)

After the death of Torazo Shima in 1927, his widow married Hango Sumii, a Japanee immigrant and successful New York importer. In September, 1940, the Sumiis sold almost all the inventories of the Shima Art Company to Mr. Robert Muller, the famous collector of Japanese prints, for $7,500. In October, 1940, Robert Muller re-named the business as the Robert Lee Gallery. Immediately following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Muller removed all the Japanese inventory from the store displaying Western pictures. The store closed during the war.
Print Details
IHL Catalog |
#111 and #172 |
Title or Description | Tea House at Imadobashi - (after a design by Kiyochika) |
Series | |
Artist | after Kiyochika Kobayashi (1847-1915) |
Signature | ![]() #172: unsigned |
Seal | no artist seal on either print; #111: red seal of publisher Shima Art Company under Kiyochika signature, as shown below |
Publication Date | c. 1930s (after an original design of c. 1877) |
Publisher | ![]() #172: unknown (no indentifying information on print) |
Impression | #111: excellent; #172: excellent |
Colors | #111: excellent; #172: excellent |
Condition | #111: excellent; #172: excellent |
Genre | shin hanga |
Miscellaneous | #111 provenance is Robert O. Muller collection |
Format | |
H x W Paper |
#111: 10 x 15 in. (25.4 x 38.1 cm) #172: 4 1/2 x 6 3/4 in. (11.4 x 17.1 cm) |
H x W Image |
same as paper size |
Literature |
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Collections This Print |
last revision:
3/10/2020