Pocketbook with Its Fittings
19th century
Medium
Part of an album of woodblock prints (surimono); ink and color on paper
Dimensions
5 3/8 x 7 1/4 in. (13.7 x 18.4 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
JP2301
Art Historical Context
**Pocketbook with Its Fittings by Ryūryūkyo Shinsai, a master of 19th-century Japanese wood printing, captures the exquisite craftsmanship of everyday luxury items from Edo-period Japan. Created as part of a *surimono* album privately commissioned format of ink and color on paper—this print measures just 5 3/8 x 7 1/4 inches, perfect for personal appreciation. Shinsai, in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, a finely detailed pocketbook (*inro*), complete with its ornate fittings like netsuke toggles and cords, showcasing the era's obsession with portable, lacquered accessories worn suspend...
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...