Picture Book of Gold Brocades (Ehon kokinran 絵本古錦蘭) : [volume 1]

Suzuki, Harunobu, 1725?-1770 · 1763 · Edo : Yamazaki Kinbei 山崎金兵衛; Nishi [?]; Shinroku 西 [?] 新六 · 9 pictures

Picture Book of Gold Brocades is a woodblock-printed Japanese illustrated album, volume 1, made by the Edo artist Suzuki Harunobu and published in Edo in 1763 for a general readership of poetry and fashion enthusiasts. Its double-page spreads pair poem-inscribed landscapes with figures in interiors, gardens and roads, drawn in clean, economical black line with pale grey wash. A designer can take from them the spare calligraphic linework, the open white space around small figures, and the way text and image share a page.

Brocade

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