Album of Sketches
late 18th century (?)
Medium
Woodblock printed book (orihon, accordion-style); ink and color on paper
Dimensions
13 3/4 × 11 7/16 in. (35 × 29 cm)
Classification
Illustrated Books
Culture & Period
Japan · Edo period (1615–1868) ?
Department
Asian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Purchase, Mary and James G. Wallach Foundation Gift, 2013
Accession Number
2013.872
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of Edo-period Japan with *Album of Sketches* Yūkakudō (幽覚堂), a late 18th-century woodblock-printed book from the Metropolitan Museum of Art Asian Art collection. This accordion-style orihon folds elegantly into a portable volume (13 3/4 × 11 7/16 in.), its pages alive with ink and color illustrations of men and women engaged with musical instruments and fans—evoking scenes of refined leisure and social grace. Crafted during the Edo period (1615–1868), when woodblock printing revolutionized art dissemination, this album exemplifies the era's mastery of precise linew...