Yamamotoya Heikichi (山本屋平吉) (publisher ca 1812 – 1886)

Alternate names: Eikyūdō (firm name - 栄久堂)
Yamamoto Heikichi (family name - 山本平吉)

Links

Biography:

Edo/Tokyo publisher (Marks 595). Artists published house include Chikanobu, Eisen, Eizan, Hiroshige, Hokuju, Hokusai, Ikumaru, possibly Kiyonobu II, Kunichika, Kunihisa, Kunihisa II, Kunikane, Kuninao, Kuniharu, as both Kunisada and Toyokuni III, Kunisada II, Kuniteru II, Kunitora, Kunitsuna, Kuniyasu, Kuniyoshi, Sadahide, Sadakage, Sadatora, Shunkyō II, Shuntei, Toyokuni I, Toyokuni II, Toyonobu, Yoshifusa, Yoshikazu, Yoshitoyo, Yoshitsuru I and Yoshitora.

[Artist represented in the Lyon Collection have their names highlighted in bold type.]

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The firm named Eikyūdō was first operated by someone called Yamamoto Kyūbei from around 1805 to 1811. The firm was then taken over by Yamamotoya Heikichi, who may have been a relative. In VI/1865, the next generation Kinjirō inherited both the business and the name Heikichi. Yamamotoya Heikichi was active in most types of prints and although his output was large, unlike other publishers he did not publish many books. The business published almost 800 designs by Kunisada's.

From the start, Yamamotoya Heikichi published prints of actors and bijin-ga employing most of the Utagawa school of artists. He also produced Kunisada's series based on the Genji story Genji monogatari Illustrations of Genji Incense Genji-kō no zu in the mid 1840s. One of the most famous series of prints of warriors published by Yamamotoya Heikichi was The One Hundred and Eight Heroes of the Popular Suikoden Tsūzoku suikoden gōketsu hyakuhachinin no uchi by Kuniyoshi, published in the 1830s and 1840s.

from Marks, Andreas: Japanese Woodblock Prints, Artists, Publishers and Masterworks 1680-1900: Tuttle Publishing, Tokyo, 2010.