Dear Sara,

Thank you for your response. I purchased it yesterday 6/8/2020 from the auction house Clearing House Estate Sales. The auction was held through the website Auction Ninja. Please let me know if there is any additional information I can provide. Would be curious to hear you initial thoughts on the piece!

Thanks so much.
Brett

Also, if it's helpful, it was Lot #115 in that auction.
Item #: 553037

Thank you.

Hello Brett.

Thank you for the information and congratulations on your auction win. Unfortunately, the auction did not provide much information for you (or me). The item presented appears to be a gouache painting on thin paper, rather than a print. I ran an extensive image search on the work and no match came up. Typically, a print would produce a match. Additionally, the calligraphy is handwritten, not typical for prints.

Unfortunately, I cannot read handwritten calligraphy completely. It appears the inscription partially reads "monthly," " saturday," (possibly). These inscriptions are usually poems or brief descriptions of the image depicted. This leads me to think the work is possibly an illustration for a calendar.

I'm sorry Brett. My thumb hit the "add comment" button prematurely while typing. Haha.

Based on the images and visible condition of the object, I would date this painting to circa 1930, a popular time for calendar illustrations. All of this considered, a fair market value estimation for this work would be $100 - 500. This estimate is based on recent auction estimates and results of comparable East Asian gouache paintings, dating to the early 20th century and depicting female beauties. Thank you and please take care.

Hi Sara,

No problem! I did feel there was a bit of a cliffhanger there, so I appreciate the clarification. I had actually sent a photo to a Japanese friend of mine and he said he doesn't know how to read the "old" calligraphy. Not sure if that has any relevance to the date, but your description sounds good to me. Do you think the fact that it's written in an older calligraphy means anything?

I'm going to keep digging a bit. Will let you know if I discover anything new.

Thanks for the information!
Brett

Hi Brett. I don't know much about the differences between "old" and modern calligraphy. I would suppose any modern artist could refer back to "old" calligraphy resources to include it in art. So I would not place a lot of value in the "old" calligraphy as far as dating or valuing it. If your friend has any further findings, please share and I'd be happy to revaluate. I also sent this to a former colleague (an Asian art specialist). If they are able and available to provide information, I'll relay that to you. Thank you.

Hi Sara,

That sounds great! Thanks again.

Brett