BOYS PULLING TOY SHIP

Medium:: Woodblock print
Format:: Oban
Publisher:: Doi Sadaichi
Edition:: Published by Watanabe Shozaburo

Source:

Typical Price

Koitsu's daytime landscapes and non-nocturnal scenes are less common on the primary market but still reflect his mastery of atmosphere and color. Values have risen steadily over the past decade.

Later/posthumous printings: $300–$1,000
Lifetime editions, good condition: $1,000–$3,000
Rare subjects or first editions: $3,000–$6,000

Description

Two young boys pull a toy ship across a stone-paved surface — a scene of childhood play rendered with Koitsu's characteristic empathy for human figures caught in unguarded moments. The toy vessel, a miniature of the fishing and transport boats the boys would have seen in any Edo-era harbor, connects the domestic scene to Japan's maritime world. While Koitsu is best known for his landscapes, this image shows his ability to invest genre subjects with the same atmospheric attention he brought to temples and moonlit harbors.