Koson 小原古邨 : Crow with Persimmon Fruit (SOLD)

Artist: Ohara Kōson (1877-1945)
Title: Crow with Persimmon Fruit on Persimmon Tree (First edition)
Date: Ca. 1900-1907

A jungle crow balances on a persimmon branch, a ripe persimmon grasped in its right claw. It is about to stab the tender fruit with its sharp beak and enjoy its sweet taste, giving this design an unusual element of anticipation. As noted in the Koson catalogue raisonné, Koson’s Kokkeido-published works are  considered to be the artist’s earliest bird-and-flower prints “and perhaps his rarest”. Kokkeido is another name for the publisher Akiyama Buemon; the founder of this publishing house published Yoshitoshi’s “One Hundred Aspects of the Moon” in the late 19th century. Koson works by this  publisher are generally dated to between 1900 and 1907. This dealer could find no examples of this work in museum collections online and only a single auction record; all a testament to the rarity of the design.

Condition: Excellent impression, color and condition. 
Dimensions: 35.8 x 19 cm

Publisher: Kokkeido (Akiyama Buemon)
Literature: See "Crows, Cranes and Camellias" (2010), checklist KS.13 
Seal: Koson   Signature: Koson

SKU: KSC109T