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Original Number

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47

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ADDITIONAL NOTES FOR THIS DESIGN

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Currently Documented Edition Watermark, Signature, and Seal Markings:

Edition I:	Edition I watermark	楽山居	Raku-zan Kyo	+ Seal A
Edition III-a:	Edition III watermark (regular font)	楽山篁子生	Raku-zan Kou-shi-sei	+ Seal B	+ Rakusan (romaji cursive signature)*
Edition III-b:	Edition III watermark (variant font)	三拙庵楽山	San Setsu An Raku-zan	+ Seal B

* Currently, all documented edition III-a copies also have a Foster era Rakusan romaji cursive signature not present on copies from the other editions.

[For illustration of seals listed by seal code letter, see the Seals article.]

[47 is currently the only known design which has its edition III watermark in the variant font, and this watermark occurs either properly oriented or reversed. It is also the only design currently documented with two different attribution markings in edition III. For details about this watermark and edition characteristics applicable to this series as a whole, see the Edition article.]

Design History:
This woodblock print was produced from an original painting on silk dating from the late 1920s whose current location is unknown. The indentification of this design as number 47 is original to Rakusan who published the print as the 47th design in his series of one hundred woodblock prints called 楽山花鳥畫譜, Rakuzan Kachou Gafu, lit. 'Rakusan's Flower and Bird Print Series'. Initial edition I publication of 47 was in April 1931 (or perhaps slightly later) in installment twenty-four (of fifty). Edition I reprintings of 47 could have continued until as late as 1933, but the small number of edition I copies in circulation suggests only the initial print run of about two hundred copies was printed. The copy illustrated above is typical of edition I.

No edition II copies of 47 are known. There are two very different edition III versions of 47 which are distinguished both by different attribution markings as well as by different ink colors and background treatments. Overall edition III can only be dated approximately between 1948 and 1955 with edition III-a preceding edition III-b by a few years. Although the example photographs below were taken with different cameras and under different lighting conditions, the edition and version of a copy of 47 can be determined accurately even from such small scale images:

47 (edition I)	47 (edition III-a)	47 (edition III-b)

Edition I: The rich tan background which represents the water surface is a single flat color. While the ink was still wet, the entire background area was lightly sprinkled with gold metallic glitter which adhered without glue binder. Portions of the iris stems under the water are indicated in the center of the image, but not at lower left. The bird appears almost uniformly dark with little color contrast.

Edition III-a: A more neutral tan background has been complexly overprinted with thin areas of both light tan and dark gray bokashi in the lower and central areas. The underwater parts of all of the iris stems are picked out with separate bokashi shadings. Other ink colors are brighter and less saturated, and the different parts of the bird are clearly distinguished. Edition III-a is the version of 47 which was sold though Walter Foster, and currently all known copies have a Foster Era cursive romaji Rakusan signature at lower right.

Edition III-b: Rather than tan, the underlying background is a pale off-white which has been overprinted with a single band of dark blue bokashi shading up fom the bottom. Instead of being freely scattered as in the previous editions, the glitter has been applied heavily to three block-printed glue bands. The underwater portions of the iris are again simplified and picked out only in the center of the image. As is often the case with later edition III copies, the hues of edition III-b are more saturated and somewhat different from those in the previous versions.

For all editions of 47 Rakusan created the red-violet, lavender, and purple colors using ink mixtures including a single purple pigment (probably an organic lake). Unfortunately, this pigment is very susceptible to sun-fading and can disappear completely leaving only the more stable blues and whites with which it was once mixed or under-printed. Therefore, 47 is one of several Rakusan designs which should never be framed or displayed in order to retain its original colors.

Species Illustrated:
Japanese (Water) Iris (Sword-leaved Iris), Iris ensata var., 花菖蒲, はなしょうぶ, ハナショウブ, hana-shoubu, lit. 'flower iris', is an originally native plant which has been extensively hybridized and modified. (The same kanji can also be read hana-ayame with the same meaning.) There are so many variations that it is impossible at this remove to identify the exact varieties Rakusan illustrates here.

Ruddy Crake, Porzana fusca, 緋水鶏, 緋秧鶏, ひくいな , ヒクイナ, hi-kuina, lit. 'scarlet(-breasted) rail', is a shy native species in Japan.