Books
19th century
Medium
Woodblock print (surimono); ink and color on paper
Dimensions
5 3/8 x 7 1/4 in. (13.7 x 18.4 cm)
Classification
Prints
Culture & Period
Japan · Edo period (1615–1868)
Department
Asian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
H. O. Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, 1929
Accession Number
JP2059
Tags
Art Historical Context
**Books** by Ryūryūkyo Shinsai is a delicate 19th-century woodblock from Japan's Edo period (1615–1868),ifying the refined art of *surimono*. These privately commissioned prints, often produced for elite patrons New Year's celebrations or poetry, were smaller and more luxurious than standardkiyo-e, featuring colors, metallic pigments, and subtle embossing for a tactile elegance. Shinsai, a master of this intimate format, captures books in a still-life composition, evoking the intellectual pursuits cherished in Edo-era Japan, where literacy and scholarship flourished among the merchant class. ...
About the Artist
Ryūryūkyo Shinsai · 1799–1823
Ryūryūkyo Shinsai (柳々居辰斎), active from 1799 to 1823, was a prominent Japanese ukiyo-e printmaker based in Edo (modern Tokyo), renowned for his mastery of surimono—luxurious, privately commissioned woodblock prints produced for elite poetry circles and New Year's celebrations. He began his training under Tawaraya Sōri before becoming a student of the legendary Katsushika Hokusai, from whom he recei...