Posted by Guy Pepermans (81.11.235.4) on April 10, 2011 at 00:15:44:
In Reply to: Hiroshige? Diptych posted by Irwin on April 09, 2011 at 01:34:02:
If I'm not mistaken, this a 1870s signature by Kawanabe Kyōsai. The seal clearly reads 'Hiroshige' which is puzzling (does that refer to Hiroshige III?).
The publisher is Hamadaya Tetsugorō (seal 'Hamatetsu'), based in Tokyo and active c1870-75.
So far, I read the series title as "Naniwa no Arashi (or Ran) jitsuroku (last character not read)". I'm not sure if 'Naniwa' refers here to Osaka - 'arashi' or 'ran' is also unclear - jitsuroku can be translated as 'official account'.
I didn't found another copy or similar prints yet.
Didn't find the circular seal in Andreas Marks' Publisher's Compendium either. Could be a hand stamped collector's seal (notice that the colour of the seal's ink is somewhat darker).
Guy.