Surimono catalogue FINAL WEB.pdf - Sanders of Oxford

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Surimono is the name given to a type of privately published Japanese woodblock print that became especially popular in the first third of the nineteenth century. Literally meaning “printed object”, surimono can refer to text, pictures, or frequently, a combination of the two. The word was first recorded as early as 1094 but it wasn’t until the1760s that the term began to be applied to a new form of woodblock print: that which was privately commissioned and published in limited editions. Experiemental and elaborately printed, surimono were designed by the leading ukiyoe artists of the day and amateurs alike, often to commemorate special occasions such as the New Year, and distributed amongst friends and associates. The surimono tradition of privately distributed woodblock prints can be split into two distinctions: publications to announce or commemorate events such as musical performances or national holidays, and publications which combined image and verse, often commissioned by poetry societies. The images were used to illustrate the seventeen syllable haiku or the thirty-one syllable kyōka, enriching the verse with visual context and vice versa. Although trimmed off in some cases, text also features in announcement surimono, and is one of the elements that sets this tradition apart from commercially published woodblock prints. The advent of surimono in the 18 th century coincided with major advances in colour printing in Japan and surimomo artists were able to take full advantage, experimenting with new pigments and techniques. Artists designing surimono did not operate under the same constraints as designers of commercial prints, and having only the wishes of the commissioner to restrict them, these works were often produced as deluxe prints with an abundant use of gold and silver pigments, delicate and complicated colour palettes, elaborate embossing and complicated designs. Printed on hōsho, a thick, often unsized, paper, the smaller shikishiban format used for surimomo was particularly suited to embossing and absorbing pigments. This enabled artists to apply more complicated techniques than in larger prints where colour had to cover a larger area or the paper was harder. Unrestricted by commercial demands, privately published surimono allowed the artist to explore a wider range of subject matter. Surimono designers often pioneered subject matter that found its way into commercial prints later. For example, such works often depicted women engaging in domestic activities associated with the New Year. The “still life” flourished in surimono design while being neglected in standard
ukiyo-e printmaking. The many surimono of birds, animals and flowers may have encouraged Hiroshige to design commercial prints of these subjects and Hokusai and Hokkei’s designs of historical and legendary figures were a direct inspiration for Kuniyoshi’s popular Suikoden series. The demand for surimono waned by the 1830s as subject matter that had not previously been addressed in commercial printing began to appear in ukiyo-e woodblocks, reducing the need for the works that had first inspired them. Towards the end of the 19 th and into the 20 th century reproductions of early surimono made between 1810 and 1830 were produced. Principally sold to Western tourists in Japan, these copies have become known as Akashi surimono after the town in which they were made. Akashi surimono are extremely fine reproductions incorporating the same lavish features of the originals, such as blind printing and the ornate use of rich pigments. The most tangible difference was merely the rigidity and colour of the paper, the 1820s hōsho being softer and more porous than the later paper, which also had the tendency to turn a slight brown colour due to the sizing used. Akashi suirmono were often mistaken for the originals until the 1970s and it was Roger Keyes groundbreaking research and subsequent essay in his 1985 book The Art of Surimono that has defined Akashi and their groupings. Keyes found that Akashi surimono in the square format fall into four categories A, B, C, and D. The groups are defined by the quality of reproduction with A being the highest quality. Keyes also created a list of known Akashi surimono which has aided in identifying them from the originals. In this catalogue we present a collection of original and Akashi surimono. All but one of the Akashi surimono are Meiji A copies. Original surimono prints are scarce because they were privately published in such limited numbers. Akashi surimono have become collectible in the own right, many are rare themselves and often depict surimono for which there is no known original. Whilst Akashi surimono were reproduced with the same techniques as the originals that they copy, they are much less expensive than the originals, another factor which has fuelled their collectability.
Page 1: Surimono A catalogue of privately c
Page 5 and 6: 2. Courtesan seated beside a life-s
Page 8 and 9: 4. Old man laughing at two sparrows
Page 10: 6. Chinese princess looking down at
Page 13 and 14: 8. Lady Wei seated at a writing tab
Page 15 and 16: 10. The poetess Ono no Komachi stan
Page 17 and 18: 12. Wine kettle and cup wrapped in
Page 20 and 21: 14. Woman Holding a Tortoise-shaped
Page 22 and 23: 16. Pheasant seated in a willow tre
Page 24 and 25: 18. Pottery doll of kneeling woman,
Page 26 and 27: 20. Woman painting a pictue of Mt.
Page 28 and 29: 22. Crow with sword. Woodblock with
Page 30 and 31: 24. Jewels and sickle on stand. Woo
Page 32: 26. Vases, trays, and materials for
Page 35 and 36: 28. Woman preparing a tray landscap
Page 38 and 39: 30. Courtesan and samurai. Woodbloc
Page 40 and 41: 32. Mimasu Gennosuke. Woodblock pri
Page 42 and 43: 34. Untitled Woodblock with gauffra
Page 44 and 45: 36. [Man on a Dragon]. Woodblock wi
Page 46 and 47: Keisai Eisen (1790-1848) Keisai Eis
Page 48: following years. After 1824, Hokusa

Surimono catalogue FINAL WEB.pdf - Sanders of Oxford

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