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Japanese
Woodblock Prints
in Miniature
Japanese Woodblock Prints
in Miniature: The Genre of
SURIMONO
by Kurt Meissner
CHARLES E. TUTTLE COMPANY
Rutland • Vermont : Tokyo • Japan
Representatives
For Continental Europe: BOXERBOOKS, INC., Zurich
For Australasia: PAUL FLESCH & CO., PTY. LTD., Melbourne
For Canada: M. G. HURTIG, LTD., Edmonton
Published by the Charles E. Tuttle Company, Inc.
of Rutland, Vermont & Tokyo, Japan
with editorial offices at
Osaki Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo 141-0032
© 1970, by Charles E. Tuttle Co., Inc.
All rights reserved
Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 78-94024
ISBN: 978-1-4629-1255-1 (ebook)
First printing, 1970
Second printing, 1971
Book design & typography by F. Sakade
Layout of plates by S. Katakura
PRINTED IN JAPAN
Table of Contents
One: History of Surimono
Historical Background • Woodblock Prints Older than Surimono • Distribution of Surimono and Influence of Art Clubs
The Subjects of Surimono Designs • The Woodblock Printing Technique • Painting and Poetry • Poems on Surimono • Calendar Prints • Signs and Seals
Three: The Artists
The Life of a Japanese Artist • The “Golden Age" • The "Decadent Age" • The Meiji Period
Four: Collections
Collecting Surimono • Notes on Museums and Collections
Five: The Surimono (Plates 1-33)
1. Era Names and Dates
2. Chinese-Japanese 12-Animal Cycle
3. Alphabetical List of Artists
4. Paper Sizes of Woodblock Prints
List of Illustrations
| 1. | A courtesan of the highest rank, Hokusai 61 |
| 2. | Official calendar for the year Bunka 7 63 |
| 3. | Calendar print with picture 65 |
| 4. | Calendar print for the year Bunsei 5, Eizan 65 |
| 5. | Calendar print for the year Bunka 7, Shumman 67 |
| 6. | Twelve fans with actor's portraits, Shunshō 69 |
| 7. | Four New Year amusements, Toyo-haru 71 |
| 8. | Shrine beneath an old pine tree, Shumman 73 |
| 9. | Wrestling animals, Keisai (Eisen) 75 |
| 10. | Landscape and still life, Keisai (Eisen) 77 |
| 11. | Tiger and knight, Toyokuni 79 |
| 12. | Ichikawa Danjūrō VII, Toyokuni 81 |
| 13. | Design for the New Year Bunka 7, Toyohiro 83 |
| 14. | Young girl stepping from palanquin, Toyohiro 85 |
| 15. | Landscape, Toyohiro 87 |
| 16. | Kabuki villain, Kunisada 89 |
| 17. | Ichikawa Danjūrō V, Kunisada 91 |
| 18. | Warrior with halbert, Kuniyoshi 93 |
| 19. | Lady and kakemono, Kuniyoshi 95 |
| 20. | Courtesan writing letter, Sadakage 97 |
| 21. | Three courtesans, Hokuma 99 |
| 22. |
