The Japanese woodblock print triptych The Friendly Garden by Toshi Yoshida has been added to the gallery.
The three woodblock prints show the Yoshida family garden. The left hand woodblock print is titled “Pine Tree of the Friendly Garden”, the middle print titled “Bamboo Tree of the Friendly Garden” and the right hand print titled “Plum Tree of the Friendly Garden”. The frames and matting shown in the gallery picture for these woodblock prints is not original.
The triptych was produced by Toshi Yoshida (his only one I believe) in the Yoshida studio and distributed by the Franklin Mint Gallery ca 1980. One would assume the tie-up with the Franklin Mint Gallery was to broaden the appeal of his (or maybe Japanese woodblock prints in general) work in the US. Interestingly the prints were pencil signed in Japanese as opposed to the usual Toshi Yoshida western signature perhaps to add a more ‘exotic’ feel.
The prints were sold in teak frames with acrylic ‘glass’ and mat boards covered in silk. Some of the framing materials are not archival so you should replace them if possible. Of the Toshi Yoshida Franklin Mint Japanese woodblock prints I’ve “de-framed” most of them used something akin to sports tape to tie the print to the mat board. Many of the prints had some damage in the top margin due to this and my framer also advised (some of?) the boards were not acid free. If you do look at getting these woodblock prints remounted using archival quality material you may find that as the teak frames are quite shallow the new materials will stick out past the frame at the rear but that’s not noticeable when hung.
One common ‘quirk’ with the triptych to watch for is that the colouring of the bamboo tree’s can differ between the left hand (Pine) and middle (Bamboo) prints where-as the colouring of the Pine tree which extends from the left print (Pine) into the middle (Bamboo) is consistant.
A further thing to note is that the silk covering on the mat boards appear to have come in different colours and occasionally some sets for sale have more than one colour!
If your interested in obtaining Toshi Yoshida’s The Friendly Garden Triptych they do come up periodically. Searching in Google or ebay will usually find one but you may need to be patient. Prices vary from $247USD (the cheapest I’ve seen) to around $1600USD at a web gallery.
I also have three of the four Japanese woodblock prints from his birds of the seasons series which you can view here Toshi Yoshida Franklin Mint Birds of the Seasons.
There was also a birds series (I have one of the series) but on smaller paper.
Hi JJ,
Yes, I believe there may have been around a dozen in the series and they were likely to be chuban size. I’ve seen the occasional print from the series but have never seen anywhere a complete set.
Regards,
Mike.
If anyone knows of a site displaying the full set of the chuban sized birds series it would be great to hear about it.
Got them all. It took me 3 years to actually collect all the pieces from all over the world. I can send a picture with all the twelve to your email. Feel free to write to misioptysio(at)gmail.com
I’m jealous. There don’t seem to be many full sets around so acquiring them piece by piece seems to be the only way to get the set. I did find all twelve on an auction site so ‘borrowed’ the pictures from there and uploaded them to here https://www.japaneseartsgallery.com/2012/11/toshi-yoshida-franklin-mint-calendr-prints/ for reference purposes.
I have the full set
I have one of the Triptych Yoshida prints for sale. It is the Pine tree with Bamboo in the background. The print is also in the original teak frame. Excellent condition too. Email if interested.
Hi Tony,
Thanks for the offer but I’m not currently looking for any Friendly Garden prints.
Mike.
I have friendly garden if interested cheap
Can you send me photo’s of the prints. Use the https://www.japaneseartsgallery.com/contact-us/ page which allows you to add attachments.
Regards,
Mike.
Good morning,
I am interested by the Friendly Garden, but first of all does any body knows how many triptyque were printed ?
Many thanks in advance for your comment on this,
Best regards,
Brigitte Jannin
Hi Brigitte,
I’ve never seen any indication how many copies of the Friendly Garden series were made. The prints did originally ship with some documentation including a COA from Franklin Mint so it’s possible an edition number may be shown there.
Regards,
Mike.
I am looking for Plum Tree of the Friendly Garden for a client. They have the other two woodblocks from the set. Please let me know if one is available somewhere that you know of.
Thanks, J Chapman
Hi Joyce,
I’m not aware of a Plum Tree print available at present but they do pop up on eBay, Live Auctioneers and Invaluable etc from time to time. I’ve had the same issue previously so I gave up waiting, bought a full set, kept the prints in best condition and sold off the two ‘duplicates’.
Regards,
Mike.
Hello everyone,
My name is James Hensley and I am getting to ready to place a nice set of the Friendly Garden triptych prints on ebay. They are in excellent condition, with one having a bit of slight waviness on the bottom margin, but no obvious discoloration. They are in the original teak frames. I would consider all offers…thanks.
Hi James,
If anyone contacts me about your prints I’ll pass their details on to you.
Regards,
Mike.
We inherited the triptych set of The Friendly Garden from Franklin Mint. If you know of a current buyer interested…
Hi Gwen,
If anyone contacts me about your prints I’ll pass their details on to you.
Regards,
Mike.
Hi
Im interested in buying a set of the friendly garden. If anyone is selling please email. Thanks
Hi are you still in search for the set ?
Very thoughtful of you. Thank you~
Gwen.
I have only seen these with either a blue or a tan mat. Are there other colors?
Hi Steve,
I’ve only seen two colours as well.
Mike.
I have a collection of the three original woodblock prints of the “Garden of three friends” by Toshi Yoshida, commissioned and offered by the Franklin Gallery, signed and complete with certificate of authenticity in both Japanese and translated, all in excellent condition which I wish to sell
Sorry for the delay in approving your message. For some reason emails keep going into my junk mail even though I have whitelisted them.
Hi Julia,are they still available? thanks
Hi julia. Can you email me if they are still for sale. [email protected]
Thanks
Hi Julia! I am interested and available at [email protected]
I have the the three original woodblock prints by Toshi Yoshida. The Pine Tree and the Bamboo both have the label attached from the Franklin Gallery date 1980. With the exception of the brown backing on the Plum Tree which is slightly torn on the edges, all of the prints (and original frames) are in excellent condition. They have been in my storage unit for the past 6 years and do not fit in my new home. If you know of anyone who might be interested, I would greatly appreciate it.
I have this set and was going to give it away. Thank you for this site so that I know the true value of this set.
Hi
Im looking for a set of Friendly Garden to send to New Zealand. Would be grateful for any help.
Hi Darryl,
I’ve approved your two comments regarding the Friendly Garden Triptych.
They do come up for sale on a regular basis but like here in Australia shipping for you to NZ will be expensive especially for a framed set. I have from time to time seen prints from the set on Trademe. Quality varies given the age of the prints so the more of them you look at the more you’ll know what you’d like.
There is a search function at https://www.japaneseartsgallery.com/category/book-preview/ where you can type (for example) ‘toshi yoshida friendly garden’ and google will only search 120+ websites I’ve selected because they sell woodblock prints.
Good hunting,
Michael.
Hello , today I found all three , I only paid $17 for all three . The beautiful teak frames really intrigued me, there was a lady looking at them and I was sure she was going to get them but she didn’t . I immediately bought them. There’s a signature on the bottom of each print . Seems Japanese , it looks to be in Pencil . Could it be an original signature ?
Thanks so much
Hi Katy,
The prints were made by Toshi Yoshida for the Franklin Mint so there are no re-prints. Therefore, they should be originals, assuming no-ones made some form of printed copy and put it in the original frames.
Regards,
Michael.