Selected Insects from Close at Hand (Chūka senzen 肘下選蠕), 1820, 7th month
Mori Shunkeiexpand_more
Woodblock printed book; ink and color on paperexpand_more
Mary Griggs Burke Collection, Gift of the Mary and Jackson Burke Foundationexpand_more 2015.79.223
Not on Viewexpand_more
In this finely printed book, images of insects and plants alternate with pages of Chinese poetry. In the nineteenth century1800s, Japanese publishers began to print heavily illustrated books with little or no text, usually with no narrative thread. Scholars posit that poetry books such as this one served as the intermediary step between books with just only text and those with just only images: books of poetry served as an in-between as publishers noticed that images could give rise to new poetry once the texts were separated from the illustrations.
Color woodblock-printed books were more expensive and labor-intensive than those printed with ink. Each color required necessitated a separate woodblock, and a single colored image required a printer to print on the same sheet multiple times. This publication also presents the illustrations as if they are prints by omitting the typical framing lines seen in books, allowing the picture to extend from one page to another.
Details
- Title
- Selected Insects from Close at Hand (Chūka senzen 肘下選蠕)
- Role
- Artist
- Accession Number
- 2015.79.223
- Curator Approved
This record has been reviewed by our curatorial staff but may be incomplete. These records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about this object, please email collectionsdata@artsmia.org.
Does something look wrong with this image? Let us know
Zoom in on the left to the detail you'd like to save. Click 'Save detail' and wait until the image updates. Right click the image to 'save image as' or copy link, or click the image to open in a new tab.