Shrimp and Udo Plant

Art Historical Context

This delicate woodblock print, created by Uematsu Tōshū during Japan’s Edo period, captures a simple yet evocative still life of shrimp and an udo plant. Produced as a surimono—a privately commissioned print often exchanged among poetry circles—the work exemplifies the refined tastes of the era. Surimono were typically small in scale, like this example measuring just over five by seven inches, and were printed with exceptional care using premium papers and sometimes metallic pigments or embossing. In the context of Edo-period art, such prints bridged everyday subjects with literary traditions...