Frederic May Sale 1918
The Frederic May Sale was held over three days in May 1918, at the rooms of the American Art Association in New York City. Afternoon sales featured objects of art, with the evening sales dedicated to Japanese prints.
Among the bidders were many of the major names in Japanese print collecting at the time, including Frederick W. Gookin, Kano Oshima and John Spaulding. Prominent dealers Otto Bernet and Rose Lorenz were also represented.
Given here is a transcription of the sale catalog including the purchaser of each item and the winning bid amount. The information is based on a facsimile scan in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which itself purchased several items. Where the handwritten names or prices cannot be read, the information is omitted or noted as unclear.
Where the provenance can be established, images for each lot are of the actual item sold at auction. It is also noted where the image is possibly of the actual item, e.g. when the current provenance indicates a print once belonged to the purchaser. In most other cases, images are examples of the same print taken from current online collections. In some cases, black and white images from the catalog are used where a color image cannot be found. These are of poor quality and will be replaced if better examples are found.
A note about the prices: the modern collector may be astounded to see such rare and beautiful prints selling for as little as $5.00. What may be more astounding is that based on the consumer price index, $5.00 in 1918 had a purchasing power of approximately $108 in 2024 dollars. The top price was for a bijin picture by Utamaro, bought by Kano Oshima, who paid $410 – the equivalent of about $9,000 today.
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Lot 181. FUKUROI
Image is an example from the Art Institute of Chicago ANDO HIROSHIGE (B. 1797, d. 1858) [from] TOKAIDO GO-JU-SAN TSUGI NO UCHI The Fifty-three Post-Stations of the Tokaido, known as the First Tokaido series. Yoko-e. Signed: Hiroshige ga. Publisher: Takeuchi. Complete set of fifty-five prints and several duplicates. As this series is so well known…
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Lot 182. FUKUROI
Image is an example from the Art Institute of Chicago ANDO HIROSHIGE (B. 1797, d. 1858) Another impression. [from] TOKAIDO GO-JU-SAN TSUGI NO UCHI The Fifty-three Post-Stations of the Tokaido, known as the First Tokaido series. Yoko-e. Signed: Hiroshige ga. Publisher: Takeuchi. Complete set of fifty-five prints and several duplicates. As this series is so…
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Lot 183. MITSUKI
Image is an example from the Art Institute of Chicago ANDO HIROSHIGE (B. 1797, d. 1858) [from] TOKAIDO GO-JU-SAN TSUGI NO UCHI The Fifty-three Post-Stations of the Tokaido, known as the First Tokaido series. Yoko-e. Signed: Hiroshige ga. Publisher: Takeuchi. Complete set of fifty-five prints and several duplicates. As this series is so well known…
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Lot 184. HAMAMATSU
Image is an example from the Art Institute of Chicago ANDO HIROSHIGE (B. 1797, d. 1858) [from] TOKAIDO GO-JU-SAN TSUGI NO UCHI The Fifty-three Post-Stations of the Tokaido, known as the First Tokaido series. Yoko-e. Signed: Hiroshige ga. Publisher: Takeuchi. Complete set of fifty-five prints and several duplicates. As this series is so well known…
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Lot 185. MAIZAKA
Image is an example from the Art Institute of Chicago ANDO HIROSHIGE (B. 1797, d. 1858) [from] TOKAIDO GO-JU-SAN TSUGI NO UCHI The Fifty-three Post-Stations of the Tokaido, known as the First Tokaido series. Yoko-e. Signed: Hiroshige ga. Publisher: Takeuchi. Complete set of fifty-five prints and several duplicates. As this series is so well known…
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Lot 186. ARAI
Image is an example from the Art Institute of Chicago ANDO HIROSHIGE (B. 1797, d. 1858) [from] TOKAIDO GO-JU-SAN TSUGI NO UCHI The Fifty-three Post-Stations of the Tokaido, known as the First Tokaido series. Yoko-e. Signed: Hiroshige ga. Publisher: Takeuchi. Complete set of fifty-five prints and several duplicates. As this series is so well known…
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Lot 187. SHIRASUKA
Image is an example from the Art Institute of Chicago ANDO HIROSHIGE (B. 1797, d. 1858) [from] TOKAIDO GO-JU-SAN TSUGI NO UCHI The Fifty-three Post-Stations of the Tokaido, known as the First Tokaido series. Yoko-e. Signed: Hiroshige ga. Publisher: Takeuchi. Complete set of fifty-five prints and several duplicates. As this series is so well known…
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Lot 188. FUTAGAWA
Image is an example from the Art Institute of Chicago ANDO HIROSHIGE (B. 1797, d. 1858) [from] TOKAIDO GO-JU-SAN TSUGI NO UCHI The Fifty-three Post-Stations of the Tokaido, known as the First Tokaido series. Yoko-e. Signed: Hiroshige ga. Publisher: Takeuchi. Complete set of fifty-five prints and several duplicates. As this series is so well known…
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Lot 189. YOSHIDA
Image is an example from the Art Institute of Chicago ANDO HIROSHIGE (B. 1797, d. 1858) [from] TOKAIDO GO-JU-SAN TSUGI NO UCHI The Fifty-three Post-Stations of the Tokaido, known as the First Tokaido series. Yoko-e. Signed: Hiroshige ga. Publisher: Takeuchi. Complete set of fifty-five prints and several duplicates. As this series is so well known…
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Lot 190. GOYU
Image is an example from the Art Institute of Chicago ANDO HIROSHIGE (B. 1797, d. 1858) [from] TOKAIDO GO-JU-SAN TSUGI NO UCHI The Fifty-three Post-Stations of the Tokaido, known as the First Tokaido series. Yoko-e. Signed: Hiroshige ga. Publisher: Takeuchi. Complete set of fifty-five prints and several duplicates. As this series is so well known…
