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Seals & Signatures: Hiroshi Yoshida




Jizuri seal


Signature:  

Yoshida

Seal:  

flower


Signature:  

Yoshida

Seal:  

flower


Signature:  

Yoshida

Seal:  

Hiroshi

The most important mark on a Hiroshi Yoshida print is the jizuri seal. Jizuri can be translated as "printed by myself" or "self-printed". Unlike many of his contemporaries, Yoshida did not utilize a publisher to print his works (with the exception of several prints published by Watanabe Shozaburo prior to 1923). Instead Yoshida worked with printers in his own studio, mixing his own colors, and closely supervising the printing process. Only original prints of the highest quality were marked with the jizuri seal. Yoshida's older son, Toshi Yoshida, supervised much of the printing during the late 1930's and 1940's, when his father was busy on other projects.

The jizuri seal is usually found in the left-hand margin of the print, above the Japanese title and date characters. (ex. 1) On a few prints, it is stamped in the right margin (ex. 2) or bottom margin. (ex. 3) In addition to the jizuri seal, original prints have a Japanese signature written in sumi ink within the image. Three examples of Yoshida's Japanese signature are pictured above. Since many of Yoshida's prints were sold to Westerners, he often signed his prints in pencil in the bottom margin. When original Yoshida prints lack a pencil signature, it means that they were most likely intended for the Japanese market. It does not detract from their value.

Many of Yoshida's works were reprinted in the years following his death in 1950. These posthumous prints do not have the jizuri seal, and are usually of lesser quality than original prints. They bear a stamped signature and title in the bottom margin, which looks suspiciously like pencil until examined closely. The value of these restrikes is considerably less than that of original Yoshida prints.

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