Variable Fading on the Same Print

The illustration above left is a detail of the lower corner of a print by Torii Kiyonaga, circa mid 1780s. A purple colorant (or a mixture of red and blue) was used for the outer kimono, while a blue pigment (possibly 'aigami' from the dayflower) was used for the umbrella and inner robes. The purple, fairly well-preserved at the top, has faded noticeably at the bottom to a buff-brown. Similarly, the blue has faded to a buff-gray. These are typical states of fading for the exceedingly fugitive, translucent vegetal colorants used during the last 30 years or so of the 18th century. The colors on the remainder of the print are better preserved, so the assumption here is that the lower left corner was more exposed to light and air (humidity) than was the rest of the sheet, perhaps during storage in an album or in a stack of prints.

A comparable degree of fading affected the background of a print (above right) by Katsukawa Shunkô (1743-1812), circa late 1780. Traces of blue can be seen in what has otherwise become a buff-colored ground.

Kunisada: Variable fading of purple

The fugitive nature of 18th-century colorants is of considerable concern to collectors and curators, but 19th-century ukiyo-e prints were also made with colorants that were susceptible to fading. The image above is a detail of a print by Utagawa Kunisada, published in 1826. The lower area at the bottom of the image near the edge of the sheet has faded from a translucent purple to a light pink or mauve. The sheet may once have been in an album or portfolio where the outermost edges were slightly exposed to light or air.

Mid- to late-nineteenth century Osaka printmakers used a wide range of pigments. Some were saturated and opaque, others were translucent, and their mixtures sometimes variable in appearance. The image above left is a detail from a print by Enjaku issued in 1858 that has faded at the right edge where the sheet was bound in an album. Although very difficult to see here, there is a faint vertical fold along the inside edge of the slightly faded purple area, corresponding to the point where the album had been folded open when viewed. It confirms that limited exposure to light and air had occurred even when the album was closed (the stitch-binding does not enclose the "spine" of such albums). The degree of fading is somewhat less than in the Kunisada example above. The red color in the cartouches (bottom of image on left) is relatively unfaded, suggesting that the red colorant was more resistant to fading.

Red colors (in many cases made from the colorant beni) of this period did indeed fade, as is shown above right. These images come from two different sheets of the same design by Enjaku published in 1864 (see also Enjaku Editions). The red color on the bottom sheet has changed to an orange-red hue, while the border, once green (probably a mixture of yellow and blue), has faded towards the blue. This type of fading of red and green is frequently found in the landscape prints of Hiroshige. Also see Fading of a Yoshitaki Print.