During the course of my internship at the Kupferstich-kabinett Dresden, I was given the opportunity to treat two Japanese prints which showed a lot of surface dirt and previous losses. Unfortunately, I was not able to complete these treatments before the end of my internship and as the treatments were not completed, it does not feel appropriate to place the treatment reports in my portfolio. However, I do want to talk about some of the methods used in the washing of these prints and feel that perhaps including the treatments in a blog post would be most appropriate.
Introduction to the Objects and Condition
The two prints in question are both by the artist Ichirakutei Eisui (一楽亭栄水), active ca. 1793–1801. Published by Maruya Bunaemon (丸屋文右衛門) [1], these prints are just two of a series titled Mirror of Beauties from Dramas (Bijin awase jôruri kagami) focused on stories of beautiful women within various dramas. These prints are dated to the late 1790s, with the MET dating one of their editions of the print to 1797. [2] The prints do not have proper titles but institutions often assign prints a title. For this reason, the first print showed, numbered KG 5038, has different names listed across different platforms with the MET labeling it as 'Scene from the "Chushingura" Drama' [2] while another entry on this print in Ukiyo-e.org lists the title as 'Lovers Konami and Rikiya- last meeting before Rikiya's death in battle' [1]. The other print seen here, numbered KG 5039, could not be found in the Ukiyo-e.org database nor could it be found through reverse image searches. This is unfortunate since KG 5039 has a piece missing in the center, losing some of the imagery of one character's hair piece. Searching on Japanese Wikipedia gives us a possible title for this piece "Bijin-Awase Jorurikagami Okoma Saisaburo (美人合浄瑠璃鏡 おこま 才三郎)" and it is suggested that there might be a copy at the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin. [3] For more information about this series, I continue to research the prints at the end of this post.
Both prints measure 36.2 cm (L) x 24 cm (W). They came to me pasted onto older mountings and had previous infills done with western paper and with unknown paint. In both cases, it seemed that they had been pasted directly to the backing paper with more paste having been used on the top of the print than the rest. The KG 5038 print also showed a slight white haze seen covering the colors, most visible in the areas of black ink.
Images: (5) KG 5039 upper corner, before treatment, showing areas of past infills (6) KG 5038 lower right corner, showing areas of past infills (7) Same corner of KG 5038 as in image 6, with the old fill removed and in raking light, showing the texture created on the print during the printing process (8) Center area of KG 5038 seen in raking light, showing the texture of the print on the cup and on some of the clothing seen within the print (9) Detail image of the woman's hair in KF 5038, showing the odd white film covering seen clearly on the black ink (10) Detail of KG 5038 showing deposits of white powder sitting on top of the image (11) Detail of KG 5039 showing some of the texture found within the print.
Testing
The prints had all their colors tested for water solubility and all the colors seemed insoluble in the tests. However, the red tested in KG 5038 did show some particles which had transferred to the testing paper. Although this was not bleeding of the pigment per se, the fact that I only saw this on the red pigment, and the fact that I was already wary of a water-soluble red pigment, made me more cautious as I moved forward with the treatment.
Treatment
Removal of old mounting and old fills
Before anything, the prints both needed to be removed from their previous mountings. Both were mounted in the same way, pasted onto western paper which was deteriorating around them. Both tended to have more paste on the upper half of the print and it took some considerable time and effort to remove the remnants of the old mounting.
Afterwards, the old fills which had been added to both prints were also removed. Some light dry cleaning was done with a soot sponge, very lightly to avoid the removal of pigments.
Washing - KG 5039/ "O-koma and Saisaburo"
The solubility testing for this print didn't show any water-soluble pigments so I felt more comfortable starting to wash this print first and monitoring the washing of this print before attempting the same with KG 5038. Before washing, the print was placed in a humidification chamber at 95-97% humidity for one hour. The washing was done using sheets of blotter paper that had been made wet. The print was placed between two wet sheets of blotter and had a glass weight placed on top of it. The process was monitored and the blotter sheets were switched out with new ones- first at very frequent intervals and then slowly leaving the blotter sheets for longer periods as less and less discoloration was removed from the paper. Because the process was monitored and the blotter sheets were switched out frequently, it was also possible to check the print throughout the process to ensure that the color coming out of the print was from the deterioration materials in the paper and not from the pigments.
The blotter washing was successful and since there was no removal of pigments from the process, we decided to see if a water bath would be possible with this print as well. The print was placed in a water bath for 20 minutes before the water was switched out and the object was bathed for another 20 minutes. Afterwards, the print was then left to dry. The water bath did not result in any loss of pigment but it also did not seem to take out any more degradation material from the print. So while immersion washing was possible, it appeared that the blotter washing was effective enough to remove any water-soluble degradation materials.
Images: (20) Image of KG 5039 inside a humidification chamber alongside another object (21) (22) blotter sheets made wet and prepared for blotter washing (23) Print placed between two wet blotter sheets and placed under a glass wright (24) One of the blotter sheets after use, showing yellowed paper degradation material (25) KG 5039 in a water bath with hollytex underneath to assist with handling
Washing - KG 5038/ "Lovers Konami and Rikiya"
Once the washing on KG 5039 was
successful, it was decided to move on and wash KG 5038. This was done similarly, starting with placing the print in the humification chamber at 95% RH for 1.5 hours. Since I was cautious of the red pigment, I decided to do a blotter wash using wet blotters only on one side, not sandwiched as I had with KG 5039. I placed down a wet blotter sheet, placed the print on top with the image facing up, covered it in a hollytex sheet, and then covered it in a glass weight. The blotter was changed out regularly just like with KG 5039. The washing proved to be successful while also having there be less risk of any movement of red pigments.
After Treatment Photos
Although I was unable to complete the treatments for both these prints, I still wanted to show the difference that was made by washing them when compared to their previous state. The next steps, of adding fills and rehousing the prints, will have to be done by another conservator.
Images: (30) KG 5039 After washing, recto (31) KG 5039 After washing, verso (32) KG 5038 After washing, recto (33) KG 5038 after washing, verso
About the Series
While researching these prints and searching for a copy of KG 5039, I started looking into the series as a whole. Initially, it was difficult to find the exact number of prints associated with this series. One source, taken from an auction listing from 2005, states "Not known to Brandt when he compiled 'Eishi and His School', he lists 6 other designs from the set." [4] The literature referenced here is Klaus J. Brandt's Hosoda Eishi 1756 -1829 Der Japanische Maler und Holzschnittmeister und seine Schüler [5], within which Brandt lists 9 prints within the series (I'm not sure why the auction listing only states 6). Of the series, I've found four images if I include the ones seen in this blog post. Two are located in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. As stated earlier, the MET has another copy of KG 5038 labeled 'Scene from the "Chushingura" Drama'. [2] The last is the KG 5039.
Outside those 4 prints, the other two I've found match the description that Brandt's publication gives but do not have the series title. One is a print found within the MFA Boston collection. This print, titled 'Ushiwakamaru and Minatsuru-hime (牛若丸 みなつる姫)' [6] is the same size as the others from this series and is similar in its subject matter and style but lacks the series name on the print. The object description from the MFA's website (taken June 24, 2022) states "Both Brandt and Ukiyo-e shûka describe this print as one of an aiban series, Mirror of Beauties from Dramas (Bijin awase jôruri kagami). However, this impression is ôban size, and there is no series title." [6]
Another print can be found in the British Museum's collection. Untitled in the catalogue, the description lists 'Woodblock print. Lovers O-Han and Choemon, she resisting his embrace' (accessed June 24, 2022 and has since been updated). [7] Again, the style and subject matter match but the print lacks the series title. Correspondence with the British Museum about the print tells us that the dimensions are 35.6 cm (H) x 23 cm (W) but that "The top appears to have been trimmed, removing part of the lovers' names. The right side may have also been trimmed, removing the series title (if there was one)" [8] The description of this print can also be found in Brandt's writing. [9]
Originally, I only had a few relevant pages from Brandt's work to reference (a great thank you to the British Museum's curator for sending them to me) but I soon found a copy of the book in the Freer and Sackler's library and discovered that the publication had images in the back of the relevant artworks. I was therefore able to get images from two more of the prints, "O-shuchi and Kichisaburi" [10] and "O-ume and Kumenosuke" [11]. According to Brandt, these prints are within the collection of the Tokyo National Museum and I was able to find their images also published in a 1960 catalogue of prints from the museum [12]. Unfortunately, these prints are not digitized on the TNM's online collection and I have been unable to get better images of them. The last missing print from the series is listed as being 'Shosho and Tokimune', however, Brandt has no description or image for it which could indicate that finding an image of this print could be difficult. Lastly, despite describing the image, Brandt does not include an image of "O-koma and Saisaburo", our KG 5039. I was able to locate his source to a 1963 Sotheby auction catalogue which includes the print description but lacks an image. The catalogue indicated that the print was bought by Bluett and Sons for 120£. [13]
These are all the possible prints I have found thus far and the images of these prints can be found below. The search for the other images in this series continues.
Images: (34) Art Institute Chicago, Shirai Gonpachi and Komurasaki, from the series “Beauties in Joruri Roles (Bijin awase joruri kagami),” (35) Art Institute Chicago, "Osome and Hisamatsu, from the series “Beauties in Joruri Roles (Bijin awase joruri kagami).” (36) MET, “Scene from the "Chushingura" Drama.
(37) Kupferstich-kabinett Dresden, KG 5039, "O-koma and Saisaburo" (38) MFA Boston. "Ushiwakamaru and Minatsuru-hime. 「牛若丸 みなつる姫」."
(39) British Museum, Museum number 1907,0531,0.108 , "Lovers O-Han and Choemon." (40) Brandt, Klaus Joachim, Hosoda Eishi (1756 - 1829), (41) Brandt, Klaus Joachim, Hosoda Eishi (1756 - 1829), 'O-Ume and Kumenosuke'
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank and give credit to my supervisors and colleagues at the Kupferstich-kabinett Dresden (Wiebke Schneider, Olaf Simon, Johanna Ziegler, Mayumi Nishikawa) for allowing me to treat this object and for guiding me in this treatment as well as many others. I would also like to thank Alfred Haft, a Japanese art curator at the British Museum, for his assistance in my research into the Mirror of Beauties from Dramas (Bijin awase jôruri kagami) series. Additional thanks to my colleagues at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art (Andrew Hare, Akiko Niwa, Jiro Ueda, Michael Smith). I was interning at the NMAA while writing this blog post and researching Ichirakutei Eisui's work and I would not have gotten very far without the help of my colleagues and the resources available at the NMAA's library.
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