£1,625
Fine Asian & Islamic Works of Art | 658
Auction: 5 November 2021 at 10:00 GMT
comprising four oban tate-e prints; including one entitled Shaving the Nape of the Neck, from the series Elegant Five-Needled Pine (Furyu goyo no matsu); two from the series Comparing True Feelings — Sources of Love (Jitsu kurabe iro no minakami), one of them published by Nishimuraya Yohachi, depicting a pair of famous lovers from shinjû-mono (plays about double-suicide), the lovers' names, Keisei Umegawa and Hikyakuya Chubei, are inscribed above them; and one possibly from the series of Courtesan Yosooi from Matsuba House, censor's seal kiwame, published by Nishimuraya Yohachi; all signed Utamaro hitsu
Provenance: From the collection of Arthur Halcrow Verstage
Note: Arthur Halcrow Verstage (1875-1969) was an architect who spent much of his career in the public sector. He was a student at the Royal Academy School of Architecture in the 1900s and was elected as an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1902. By 1903 he was a student and assistant at the Central School of Arts and Crafts (later known as the Central School of Art and Design) in London where William Lethaby was principal and a great influence on him. He then oversaw the design of the new school in Southampton Row from 1905-8. From here he became an architect for London County Council and was involved with many London societies, and as a founding member of the Kelmscott Fellowship, a forerunner to The William Morris Society. His large and varied collection was a reflection of his wide interest in the arts. His archive was purchased by The William Morris Society in 2005.