SURIMONO
Poetry Prints of Japan
Masterpieces of the Printer's Art

Surimono are among the finest examples of the printers art in the world. They are de-luxe prints which were very expensive to make. They were produced in limited editions for private circulation among members of poetry clubs, usually in editions of no more than two hundred copies, which accounts for their great rarity today. It is worth noting that each print, with it's fine heavy paper, it's careful registration of color blocks, it's sensitive use of color, the gauffrage or blind printing of subtle textures, and use of brass dust and silver to highlight aspects of the design, were achieved by purely manual means. The color blocks were carefully carved by a master carver, and aligned for printing by hand by a master printer. The controlled conditions of the artist's studio must have exact. It is our pleasure to offer these fine examples.

SHUNGA
Prints of Erotica

Text to come.

HIROSHIGE'S LANDSCAPES
Gojusan-tsugi meisho zue
Famous Views of the 53 Stations of the Tokaido Road

The Tokaido Road was an ancient roadway dating from the 8th century that meandered along Japan's eastern coastline from north to south. It was the main thoroughfare from 17th century Edo (Tokyo) to the old capitol of Kyoto. Every twelve to fifteen miles would be a resting station with inns and restaurants, roughly about the distance a traveler on foot could manage in one day. Hiroshige traveled this picturesque route around 1830 and made drawings of the various stations which were later carved into blocks and printed as mementos of the trip. The series was so popular that it was repeated in numerous editions up until 1855.

Edo Meisho Hakkei
One Hundred Views of Edo

These designs are from an album of prints bound together by a Japanese collector about 1860, after the complete edition of the Views of Edo were finished. These comprise the deluxe first printings from the blocks with careful use of bokashi, gauffrage and multi-colored cartouches. They represent the earliest pulls from the blocks before the grain of the woodblocks filled in with ink.