Brushes and Paper Ornaments
19th century
Medium
Part of an album of woodblock prints (surimono); ink and color on paper
Dimensions
8 1/4 x 7 3/8 in. (21 x 18.7 cm)
Classification
Prints
Culture
Japan
Department
Asian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
H. O. Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, 1929
Accession Number
JP2389
Tags
Art Historical Context
**Brushes and Paper Ornaments by Ryūryūkyo Shinsai invites visitors into the refined world of 19th Japan. Created as part of an album ofsurimono*—luxurious, privately commissioned woodblock prints—this delicate ink and color on paper work measures just 8¼ x 7⅜ inches. Shinsai, a master of the ukiyo-e tradition during the late Edo period, specialized in these intimate gems, often produced for poetry circles to celebrate New Year's or literary gatherings. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Asian Art Department from the prestigious H. O. Havemeyer Collection, it exemplifies the era's blen...
About the Artist
Ryūryūkyo Shinsai · 1799–1823
Ryūryūkyo Shinsai (柳々居辰斎), active from 1799 to 1823, was a prominent Japanese ukiyo-e printmaker based in Edo (modern Tokyo), renowned for his mastery of surimono—luxurious, privately commissioned woodblock prints produced for elite poetry circles and New Year's celebrations. He began his training under Tawaraya Sōri before becoming a student of the legendary Katsushika Hokusai, from whom he recei...