Japanese Woodblock Surimono - Surimono are an exclusive subcategory of Japanese woodblock prints. Poetry clubs commissioned these designs for distribution to a small audience of members, most often as New Year's greetings. These privately published images included a wonderful range of subjects and lavish printing techniques such as embossing, burnishing, and metallic pigments. Since surimono were not sold commercially, the print runs were very small and original Edo era surimono are incredibly rare in the market today.

Comments - A terrific portrait of a young beauty sharing an umbrella on a snowy day with Ebisu, the God of Good Fortune. Ebisu carries a large sea bream in a basket with rope handles. Lovely delicate embossed detail on the beauty's white kimono collar, Ebisu's white robe, and in the falling snow, with metallic gold stripes that have oxidized to a dark tone on the obi. The poems by Nomichi no Kisanji reads:

Today, after being snowed in,
as I headed off to Ebisu Shrine,
escorted by a male geisha and
a woman beautiful as Benten,
I bumped into a friend on the way…
-Nomichi no Kisanji

Artist - Toyohiro (1773 - 1828)

Image Size - 8 1/4" x 7 1/8"

Condition - This print with excellent color and detail as shown. Paper remnants on reverse from previous backing. Small loss at corner, small tear at edge, repaired. Slight toning and soiling, a few creases. Please see photos for details. Good overall.