Fukukensai Gafu (5 volumes)

Japan, 1805. Orihan, or concertinas, with card thick endpieces. Outer portfolio with sting ties. Very Good. Niwa Kagen. A set of matching bindings surveying the fine color woodblocks encapsulating the versatile work of Japanese artist Niwa Kagen. We believe these woodblocks to have been early re-strikes of the original woodblocks. Each volume is 28 by 15 cm when closed, and the format is a typical Japanese orihan, or accordian, style. 40 woodblock prints altogether in the five volumes, almost all of them double paneled or double paged. Volume 1 has 22 panels, which include six woodblocks, 28.5 by 24 cm -- we are not including margins -- of views and (truncated) landscapes. We see mountains, craggy outcroppings, village hamlets, rustic settings, occasional people. The color is spare, the outlines, most economical, with clever choice of detailing. Ten pages of calligraphic text. This is in additional with calligraphic captioning with each of the woodblockis. Volume 2 comes with ten color woodblocks of human portraits and genre scenes. The scenes include pilgrims, river activity, an authority figure at a desk with an assistant or petitioner, people with a big cat, one with a dog barking at a frightened man. Only two pages with pure text, although one of the woodblock has text captioning take up the entirety of one of the panels. Volume 3 is devoted to birds, with eight woodblocks, two pages of calligraphy. The color used here is decidedly richer, although not bright by any means. Volume 4 has nine woodblocks, seven capturing animals other than birds, and three, botanical studies. The latter is artwork that brings to mind many a vertical wall hanging. The color is incidental, and in one case, there is none at all. The artwork verges on the abstract, and is closely allied with calligraphy, we would say. The animal studies show the animals in action. In one, a boy rides a dolphin; in another, spiders dangle from a tree as frogs and a crab watch. Our favorite among these is that of a cat glaring at a turtle. Finally, Volume 5 has seven woodblocks of fruits and vegetables. These include groupings, but also ones of a single item. The color of these can be the most vibrant of these woodblocks. This volume has eight pages of just calligraphy. Light soilng to the covers. Minor closed tearing at a few panel folds. Generally the volumes are well-preserved. The outer case is split along one of its folds. We think this is a later addition, and with the typed title label (English title that is improvisational, not a translation of the Japanese) that is none too attractive, one might choose to discard this casing entirely, although the avian pattern has some appeal. (Inventory #: 20317)