Click on image above for more views

This is a very pleasing and unusual night-time scene with a fishing boat under sail. The scene shows a village in the background, with the lights reflecting on the water. On the right side of the image is a group of buildings and a tall ladder, which would have been used as a fire lookout. This is the only time I've seen one depicted in a watercolor, though they were quite common in Edo, Meiji and Taisho Era Japan. This well executed Western-style Japanese watercolor is signed S. Tosuke and dates from the early 20th century.

The watercolor is backed with fiber board material and in very good condition. There is fading to the image where the image was not covered by matting. The overall size of the watercolor is approximately 20 1/4" by 13 1/2". Properly matted, the viewable image area measures approximately 19 3/8" by 12 1/2". There are a couple of light scratches on one building on the right side of the image and one small dark spot in the sky on the left side of the image ...... $675.00