THREE HAIKU MASTERS: BASHO, ISSA & BUSON

Pasadena: Clinker Press, 2013. No. 4 OF 25 COPIES WITH A BROOCH FROM SEVEN FINGERS JEWELERS, signed by the printer and jeweler. Text: 150 x 220 mm. (5 7/8 x 8 1/2"); Box: 270 x 245 mm. (10 1/2 x 9 1/2"). [17] leaves.
In a silver raw silk binding by Mariana Blau, with black titling and flying geese design on upper cover. In a matching velvet-lined clamshell box with compartment for brooch. Each of the three sections of haiku with a section title printed on rice paper featuring a woodcut portrait of the poet; poems printed within frames accompanied by one of four flower designs printed in colors. WITH A LOVELY SILVER BROOCH depicting three geese in flight, silhouetted against a mother-of-pearl moon, numbered on the back. ◆In mint condition.

This very appealing book features 12 haiku from the three greatest poets of the Edo period, each separately printed on a leaf of thick handmade paper; the volume is accompanied by an elegant brooch inspired by lines from Yosa Buson: "Calligraphy of geese / Against the sky-- / The moon seals it." This set is the fruit of a meeting between Andre Chaves of the Clinker Press and jeweler Tom Herman at the Grove Park Inn Arts and Craft Conference in 2007. For the present work, Chaves selected and printed four haiku each from Japanese masters Kobayashi Issa (1763-1828), Yosa Buson (1716-84), and Matsuo Basho (1644-94), while Herman created a brooch with flying geese silhouetted against the moon, a design echoed by the binder on the front cover of the book. Chaves founded the Clinker Press in 1996, and is especially interested in printing works relating to the art of printing and the Arts & Crafts Movement. The press takes its name from the "clinker" bricks used on the garage in which the press first operated, but Chaves notes that "clinker implies something not very important and keeps things in perspective." In 1982, master jewelry maker Tom Herman established Seven Fingers Jewelers, the name deriving from Herman's own handprint, missing three fingers lost in a childhood farming accident. He has since become renowned for his talents at working with precious stones, metal carving, and unique designs..