牡丹 [from folio]
botan
Tree-peony
ボタン
Edition I (only edition): | [no signature] | Seal H |
Note that seal H is a minor seal occasionally used during 1933 (the latter portion of the period during which use of seal A predominated).
[For illustration of seals listed by seal code letter, see the Seals article.]
Series History and Definitions:Rakusan arranged the Fan Series prints into shared-subject groups typically consisting of one design in each of five different fan silhouette shapes. Each of these groups of Fan Series designs are united by a corresponding polychrome 36 Series design which defines the subject. Each shared-subject Fan Series group and its 36 Series design together comprise a theme (画題, gadai).
Rakusan did not include the Fan Series in his main sequence numbering. Therefore, the original number used for each of the 36 Series prints has been modified to identify the Fan Series members of its theme. The five different fan silhouette shapes have been here assigned arbitrary numbers 1 through 5. To indicate a fan design these shape designations are added to the 36 Series number separated by a hyphen. In themes which contain duplicated fan shapes, one has been arbitrarily designated A and the other B. 103-3 indicates that this is a Fan Series design with fan shape 3 in the 103 Tree-peony theme. Like all other designs in this series, 103-3 was only produced in a single print run, and few copies are currently documented. (Note that the copy of 103-3 illustrated above is foxed. The foxing is most evident on the paper surrounding the fan shape.)
Theme History:The other two themes in installment one are irregular, and the 103 Tree-peony theme is the first of the entirely regular themes in the series.
Later in the series Rakusan created a second tree-peony theme. That later 117 Winter Tree-peony theme is also perfectly regular in arrangement and content, but each of those designs bears later markings. The designs in the two tree-peony themes also differ in execution with the petals in the 103 Tree-peony theme more silhouette-like, and those in the 117 Winter Tree-peony theme filled with scribed parallel lines. The 117 Winter Tree-peony theme represents a separate later addition to the series which (apart from its shared subject) is entirely distinct from the 103 Tree-peony theme.
At least some of the designs in the 103 Tree-peony theme were adapted from sketches originally created in the late 1920s during the planning of design 10 in the earlier 100 Series (see below). Similarly, the designs in the 117 Winter Tree-peony theme were adapted from sketches for design 11.
Description:![]() 103-3 as originally drawn (reconstruction) |
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103-1 | 103-2 | 103-4 | 103-5 | 103 |
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10 |
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117-1 | 117-2 | 117-3 | 117-4 | 117-5 | 117 |
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11alt | 11 |