An untouched, late 19th century, hand painted Japanese catalog, displaying 48 original haura-e designs in sumi and colors for the inner silk lining of the mid-length coat traditionally worn by men over the kimono, the haura of a haori. by Unknown. No artist seals: customarily, a town painter working for privately owned businesses didn't sign their work

OFFERING: An untouched, late 19th century, hand painted Japanese catalog, sidebound, no wrappers, with antique, heavy copper staple-like fasteners (hochikisu) at crown and foot and displaying 48 original haura-e designs in sumi and colors. The design works, on sundry, individual sheets of mulberry paper, illustrate the restrained, refined iki aesthetic and were done ca. 1893-1899, for a Kyoto kimono shop (gofukuya) by an uncredited painter with training in Maruyama-Shijo and Rishi school techniques, reputedly associated with the Hasegawa family of painters. They were done for the inner silk lining of the mid-length coat traditionally worn by men over the kimono, the haura of a haori and were to be copied using Yuzen starch resist technique. Some designs are purposefully incomplete with interior areas and borders left for later application of gold and silver dust, or additions expected from the patron. 39 haura-e designs are flower and bird landscapes (Kachoga) in river and marsh settings, including several shown by moonlight. Many bird species are portrayed including: shorebirds (godwit, greenshank and sandpipers), waterbirds (common kingfishers, herons, mandarin ducks, Oriental storks and red-crowned cranes), pheasant, rooster, varied tit, northern goshawk and bush-warbler. Other designs include: a striking group pantomime in silhouette, the light thrown by an early electric arc streetlight; a wildflower garden with bamboo fencing; landscapes with chrysanthemum, black pine, plum tree, taro and lotus; a pilgrimage to a Buddhist ceremony at a temple in the mountains; a village in deep snow, and koi. SIZE: 264 x 385 mm. CONDITION: Acceptable / Binding: Fine. Colors are fresh and bright, rear sides with customary offset from pigments. Sheets are cockled, and at one time, catalog was folded at the center: sheets retain a corresponding indent, shallower near the middle, sharper at the extremities. Some sheets have trace bottom corner soiling, Work 8 with a light top corner stain, Work 38 with toned top corners, Works 32 and 34 with a few pink spots, Work 40 with pink spots in foot of a margin. There is no insect damage. Some sheets have tip bends, some with minor corner creasing, Works 26 and 34 with a vertical crimp. Because there are no protective wrappers, the topmost painting has more wear including vertical tears at the inner bottom corner, a small hole at the outer bottom corner, and some minor soiling and scattered spots along the inner edge. Work 29 has three characters in red at the top corner. Works 3, 4, and 18 retain a label stub at the top tip. An unidentified small seal is on the rear of Work 45. YUZEN: after Kyoto artist, Miyazaki Yuzen [d. 1765]. The design is first drawn with spiderworts juice on patterned cloth cut to the shape of the garment piece, the outline starched with rice paste to prevent dye bleed. Soybean juice is brushed on the cloth to ensure good dye transfer. Customarily, one pattern is used for each color, with up to approximately 300 patterns being possible, permitting nearly any gradation of color. FOR ADDITIONAL IMAGES: please request.