Sakai Hoitsu, Suzuki Sonoichi, and Nakano Sonoaki

Sakai Hoitsu, Suzuki Sonoichi, and Nakano Sonoaki
Shiki no hana [Flowers of the Four Seasons], 1908
5311-BK

10 7/8 x 7 3/8 in. (27.7 x 18.8 cm)

10 volumes, octavo. 239 colored woodblock plates (232 double-page). Bound in fukuro toji style (concertina fold-out form), between original paper-covered boards; paper title label on upper cover of each volume, all within a single contemporary blue cloth slipcase, the slipcase within a modern blue cloth box, with blue morocco title label on spine.



One of Japan’s most stunning and complete presentations of botanicals, representing the four seasons through fruiting trees and flowers.



The work was published just a century after it was begun. It is so extensive and deals with so many more plants than the conventional flowers of the four seasons of most artists that it is botanical, as well as artistic in conception. The artist and poet Hoitsu (1761-1828) served in the Imperial court. He painted this work from living specimens, and was assisted by his disciple Sonoichi who supplemented the work. Upon Hoitsu’s death, it was continued and finished by Sonoaki (1833-1892). He rounded out the work to contain some 1000 examples. The opus was printed for the first time in 1908 when the printer Yamada Naosaburo, Kyoto, received permission to publish it.

Price Upon Request