Cloth Bag with Cords and Plum Blossoms
19th century
Medium
Part of an album of woodblock prints (surimono); ink and color on paper
Dimensions
5 1/2 x 7 5/16 in. (14 x 18.6 cm)
Classification
Prints
Culture & Period
Japan · Edo period (1615–1868)
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
JP2252
Tags
Art Historical Context
**Cloth Bag with Cords Plum Blossoms** Ryūryūkyo Shinsai captures the delicate beauty of everyday objects infused with poetic elegance. Created in the 19th century Japan's Edo period (16151868), this wood print is part of a surimono album—a genre of privately commissioned prints often exchanged as New Year's greetings among literati. Shinsai, a master of ukiyo-e ("pictures of the floating world"), specialized in these intimate works, blending meticulous detail with subtle color gradients in ink and pigment on paper. Measuring just 5½ x 7⅜ inches, its compact size invites close contemplation, m...
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...