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Assigned Number / 規定番号

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131-1

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Theme Identification / 画題識別

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131 Freshwater Crab Theme / 131 サワガニ画題

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ADDITIONAL NOTES FOR THIS DESIGN

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Signature and Seal Markings:

Edition I (only edition):

楽山篁子生

Raku-zan Kou-shi-sei

+ Seal B

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

Series History and Definitions:
During the two years between mid 1933 and mid 1935 Rakusan produced a series of one hundred eighty individual woodblock-printed fan designs. These fan designs are printed as negative images with a single impression of black ink. Although all are actually woodblock prints, this traditional negative-image printing style is called 石摺(り), ishi-zuri, lit. 'stone rubbing', from its superficial resemblance to that technique. Rakusan called this series 篁子生石摺画選, Koushisei Ishizuri Gasen, lit. 'Koushisei's Stone-rubbing Print Selection', but it is usually called here the Fan Series.

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. 131-1 is the Fan Series design with fan shape 1 in the 131 Freshwater Crab theme. Like all other designs in this series, 131-1 was only produced in a single print run, and few copies are currently documented.

Theme History:
The 131 Freshwater Crab theme is one of the many entirely regular themes represented by a complete fan quintet and a color woodblock print. The signature and seal markings suggest that the designs in the 131 Freshwater Crab theme were produced in at least two stages. Two of the five fan designs in this theme (including 131-1) have seal C which indicates carving dates between the last months of 1933 and the end of the first quarter of 1934. One fan design has rare minor seal Q whose carving period remains to be determined, but it is probably also early. Despite the early completion of some of its wooden blocks, Rakusan delayed printing and distribution of the prints until the following year. Two other fan designs (including 131-1) and the 36 Series design 131 have seal B which suggests those designs were carved later and closer to the time of publication.

The delivery documents for installment three from May 25, 1934 announced the freshwater crab designs as what would be expected to be theme 111 to appear the following month, June 1934, in installment four. However, all three of the summer season themes announced together for installment four were actually delayed and not published until installment eleven, in a slightly reordered sequence but still together in the same installment. After this rearrangement another theme became theme 111, and the freshwater crab designs ended up being published as theme 131.

The Fan Series and 36 Series woodblock prints of the 131 Freshwater Crab theme and its previously announced companion themes were ultimately distributed in early 1935 in installment eleven (of twelve), but the delivery documents for installment eleven remain to be discovered. The series as originally announced would have seen this installment published in November 1934. However, with documented delays, the earliest month it could actually have been delivered is April 1935, and it may well have been even further delayed. The delivery documents for installment 10 from March 25, 1935 announced three different themes due the following month, April 1935, in installment eleven. Evidently, Rakusan was still altering his publication plans even almost at the end of the series!

The previously mentioned delivery documents for installment three list the original Rakusan title as 若蘆にかに, waka ashi ni kani, 'Young Reeds and Crabs'. Since 131 is the only design in this theme with reeds, this title is too specific to be retained here as the theme title, although it accurately serves as the title of 36 Series design 131 alone. Despite Rakusan's use of 蟹, かに, カニ, kani, a generic name for all kinds of crabs, all of the designs in this theme include only freshwater crabs. Although a species of marine crab is also shown in two Fan Series designs of the 127 Shrimp and Clam theme, there is no evidence that any link to those designs was intended. Those marine crab designs are also significantly stylistically different from those in theme 131. However, for maximum clarity, all of the titles in the 131 Freshwater Crab theme (including the name of the theme itself) have been emended to describe the included animals as freshwater crabs.

Description:
The composition of 131-1 includes two small river crabs associated with a rock (or perhaps a stump) which is half in and out of the water. There are also several blades of a kind of aquatic grass, most of whose sharp, upright leaves are underwater. The view is simultaneously above and below the water level, which is indicated by a couple of horizontal lines. The ground surface under the water is suggested by an abstract scattering of small dots. All of the elements are rendered in a very loose abstract style closely mirroring the original sketch. The result works equally well as ishizuri or reversed.

The woodblock print of 131-1 was modeled closely on an actual-size original sumi sketch which although lost can be reconstructed by digitally reversing the image of the woodblock print:

131-1 as originally drawn (reconstruction)

Species Illustrated:
Japanese Freshwater Crab, Geothelphusa dehaani, 沢蟹, さわがに, サワガニ, sawa-gani, lit. 'river crab' is a common native species. These small crabs are eaten and are readily available in markets. (It remains possible that more than one kind of similar freshwater crab is illustrated in this theme. In designs 131-1 and 131-4 the crabs are hairier, but this may be an artistic device to indicate algal growth on the shell.)

Also included in the design is an abstractly rendered, unidentified aquatic grass with sharp spikey leaves. In the title supplied here it is called simply 草, kusa, 'grass'.