Love Poses in the Narabi Hills (Nure sugata narabi no oka) : [volume 3]

Okumura, Masanobu, 1686-1764 · Japan : [producer not identified] · 12 pictures

A Japanese illustrated book of erotic prints (shunga) by Okumura Masanobu, an ukiyo-e artist of the early Edo period, from around the mid-1700s, likely issued for a private adult readership. Its double-page spreads pair brush-drawn figures with columns of calligraphic text, and the linework is spare, fluid and pale on off-white paper, showing how woodblock-era designers handled flowing contour, dense text blocks and tightly framed interiors.

Thomas J. Watson Library, The Metropolitan Museum of Art · No known copyright restrictions · More from this library