Friday, June 03, 2011

Japanese Woodblock Prints

"The Barry Rosensteel Japanese Print Collection consists of 126 woodblock prints that date from the eighteenth to early twentieth centuries. The work of over forty artists is represented in the collection [..]

The images portray Japanese culture through detailed depictions of portraits, landscapes, wildlife and theatrical performances, taking into account some of Japan’s rich history. [..]

The earliest print, dating to 1760, is by Kitao Shigemasa (1739-1820) and depicts a carp leaping a waterfall. The works of several artists of the Utagawa school are found in the collection. [..]

The prints were produced with high-quality paper. Vegetative color pigments, and, in some cases, ground precious metals, were used as part of the creative process."
[from: Collection Contents at the University of Pittsburgh]



Eguchi no Kimi seated on a recumbent pink elephant representing the Bodhisattva Fugen (1850)
Title: Eguchi no Kimi seated on a recumbent pink elephant representing the Bodhisattva Fugen
Creator: Sadahiro, Utagawa (active ca. 1825-1875)
Date: 1850



Portrait of an actor in a purple robe on striped fan (date uknown)
Title: Portrait of an actor in a purple robe on striped fan
Creator: Yoshiyuki, Mori (1835-1879)
Date: Unknown



Okubi-e portrait of a beauty (date uknown)
Title: Okubi-e portrait of a beauty
Subjects: Block printing, Japanese; Geishas in art.
Creator: Chikanobu, Kitagawa
Date: Unknown



Longevite (1948)
Title: Longevite
Creator: Jacoulet, Paul (1902-1960)
Date: November 28, 1948



Umekuni, Toyokawa (active first quarter 19th century) (1820)
Title: Portrait of Ichikawa Ebijuro (Japanese actor)
Creator: Umekuni, Toyokawa (active first quarter 19th century)
Date: 1820



The courtesan Tsukonosuke with her attendant gazing at a cuckoo in the rain (1861)
Title: The courtesan Tsukonosuke with her attendant gazing at a cuckoo in the rain
Series: Thirty-six Manners and Customs of Courtesans
Creator: Toyokuni III, Utagawa [Utagawa Kunisada] (1786-1864)
Date: 1861



Nakamura Utaemon III as Ichikawa Goemon (1828)
Title: Nakamura Utaemon III as Ichikawa Goemon
Creator: Ashiyuki
Date: 1826



Swans (date unknown)
Title: Swans
Creator: Shoson, Ohara (1877-1945)
Date: Unknown

Update: see - The Art of Ohara Shôson at Scriblets.



Return from Festival (Matsuri kudari), Nakamura Utaemon on horseback accompanied by a group of five actors (1810) a
Title: Return from Festival (Matsuri kudari), Nakamura Utaemon on horseback accompanied by a group of five actors
Creator: Toyokuni, Utagawa (1769-1825)
Date: 1810
Note: One frame from triptych; prints depicting actors in everyday life are rare.



A Daimyo's wife and her attendants fording a river in a palanquin (1794)
Title: A Daimyo's wife and her attendants fording a river in a palanquin
Creator: Toyokuni, Utagawa (1769-1825)
Date: 1794
Note: One frame from triptych



Half-length portrait of an actor as Kaneomaru (date unknown)
Title: Half-length portrait of an actor as Kaneomaru
Series: Edo meisho zue (Famous Views of Edo)
Creator: Kunisada, Utagawa (1786-1864)
Date: Unknown



The Barry Rosensteel Japanese Print Collection is available from the University of Pittsburgh [thumbnails].

Previously: Japan; from the delicious bookmarks - a collection of general category tags and brief summaries helping to organise all 1100+ BibliOdyssey posts.

Thursday, June 02, 2011

Anatomia Vegetal

Visualising the Cell Nucleus -- Anatomia Vegetal 1929, pub. by FE Wachsmuth a

Visualising the Cell Nucleus




Leaf growth -- Anatomia Vegetal 1929, pub. by FE Wachsmuth d
Leaf growth




Cell growth -- Anatomia Vegetal 1929, pub. by FE Wachsmuth
Cell growth




Cell organelles and cytoplasm visualisation -- Anatomia Vegetal 1929, pub. by FE Wachsmuth b
Cell organelles and cytoplasm visualisation




Cell membrane (or is it wall) growth -- Anatomia Vegetal 1929, pub. by FE Wachsmuth c
Cell membrane and cell wall growth




Dicot stem cross-section -- Anatomia Vegetal 1929, pub. by FE Wachsmuth e
Dicotyledon* stem cross-section




Woody cells of conifer -- Anatomia Vegetal 1929, pub. by FE Wachsmuth f
Woody cells of conifer




Monocot stem cross-section -- Anatomia Vegetal 1929, pub. by FE Wachsmuth g
Monocotyledon* stem cross-section




These fabulous botanical microanatomy plates constitute the total of illustrations present in 'Anatomia Vegetal' by Frederik Elfving (1929) and published by FE Wachsmuth (Leipzig) which is online at La Biblioteca Virtual de Patrimonio Bibliográfico from the Spanish Ministry of Culture.

Elfving (1854-1942) was a professor of botany at the University of Helsinki. There are a couple of books at the Internet Archive about a voyage to North America to which he contributed.
Apparently there is descriptive text to accompany the illustration plates but it doesn't appear to have been digitised.

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Sunday, May 29, 2011

Falconry

Falconry is the art of using a trained raptor (bird of prey) to hunt wild quarry like birds or small mammals. The practice dates to at least 2000 BC and birds used for falconry (or hawking, a near-synonymous term in the modern parlance) include buzzards, eagles, Harris hawk, Peregrine falcons, Lanner falcon, Gyrfalcon, goshawks, owls and kestrels, among others.

The pastime is complicated and time-consuming and, in America at least, requires a minimum two year apprenticeship. The raptors are not pets and do not establish a bond with their handlers beyond trust and food source. Objections to falconry have been raised by environmentalists (it is virtually outlawed in Australia, albeit indirectly, for example) but the falconry community has made significant and undeniable contributions to species conservation and protection. I don't know enough to have an opinion other than to suppose that the trainer/handler licensing should be stringent (not too different from my thoughts on parenting).

The lithographs below, produced in the mid-1800s, come from 'Traité de Fauconnerie' by H Schlegel and AH Verster de Wulverhorst [source].



chromolithograph of Hooded falcon perched on handler's gloved hand, by H Schlegel, 1853
Le Groënlandais, Faucon Blanc Mué


(Hooded White Greenlander falcon or gyrfalcon - based on a portrait of the bird by Pierre Louis Dubourcq)



Close-up of hooded bird's head
Hooded falcon close-up



frontispiece / title-page of 'Traité de Fauconnerie' by H Schlegel, 1853
Titlepage of 'Traité de Fauconnerie', 1844-1853


Each of the above images was spliced together from screen captures;
click through to large and very large versions.




book illustration of training equipment used in falconry
Tethering and training equipment used in falconry




raptor hoods - 1853 lithograph
Raptor* hoods

"Falconry hoods are among the very first pieces of equipment that a falconer will obtain when beginning to learn the art of falconry. A properly fitted hood ensures that the bird remains calm while in the presence of humans, as otherwise it may become alarmed and distraught. A hood is essential in making a bird ready for training. The acclimatization of the bird to humans is known as "manning" and is the first step in the training regimen." [source]




L'Émérillon Hagard, le Tiercelet sors et Hagard d'Émérillon




hawk illustration
Le Tiercelet sors de l'Autour




raptor lithograph
Le tiercelet Hagard de Faucon d'Islande




picture of two birds used in falconry
L'Épervier sors et le Mouchet Hagard





Le Faucon Hagard

[A bird of prey "taken from a nest in the wild or bred in captivity is known as an eyas. A hawk trapped during its first year in the wild is called a passager, and a hawk trapped in its adult plumage is termed a haggard. The female peregrine falcon is properly called a falcon, and the male — which, in common with most species of raptors, is smaller than the female — is known as a tiercel." {source}]



falcon on rock staring up intently
Le Sacre Hagard



lithograph of crouched raptor
Le Gerfaut Sors



'Traité de Fauconnerie' (1844-1853) by Hermann Schlegel and Abraham H Verster van Wulverhorst is available online at Heinrich Heine Universität Düsseldorf [click 'Übersicht' for thumbnail pages] [Amazon]
"The finest work on Falconry which has ever been produced; not only on account of the beauty of the plates, wherein the hawks are depicted life-size and of the natural colours, but also for the general accuracy of the letterpress. [..]

Exclusive of the ornamented title-page, there are 16 folio plates, 2 of which are illustrative of Heron Hawking at the Loo, in 1844, with portraits of contemporary falconers; 2 others contain figures of hoods, jesses, lure, and other accessories; and the remaining 12 give life-sized coloured figures of the hawks employed by falconers, admirably drawn by Joseph Wolf and J. B. Sonderland."
As quoted from the veritable bible of falconry literature: 'Bibliotheca Accipitraria : A Catalogue of Books Ancient and Modern Relating to Falconry' By James Harting, 1891 (Revised) Online | Amazon | Bibliothecca Accipitraria II.

'Traité de Fauconnerie' was published in an elephant folio format (about 20x25 inches - hence, the descriptions talk of "life size" illustrations). It was issued in three instalments over nine years.

Less than one hundred copies were originally issued in the first edition between 1844 and 1853, of which only about fifty copies are known to have survived. I've seen prices in recent years ranging from £12,000 to £28,000 to £36,500 and the Abu Dhabi National Library was quoted more than £95,000 for a first edition copy last year to outfit their falconry collection.

 
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