Illustrated Poem Book (Katsura kasane かつらかさね) : [volume 1]

Matsuya, Nichōsai, -1803? · 1803 · Osaka: Shioya Chubei 塩屋忠兵衛 · 21 pictures

This Edo-period Japanese woodblock picture book, volume 1, was published in Osaka in 1803 by Shioya Chubei and attributed to Matsuya Nichōsai, likely for a general readership of poetry and popular fiction enthusiasts. Its pictures are spare ink line drawings on pale paper with occasional light colour washes, showing everyday scenes of townspeople, travellers and domestic interiors beside handwritten verse, a model for economical figure drawing, calligraphic layout and the placement of text beside image.

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