A 19th Century Book of Hand Painted Illustrations: Birds, Landscapes, People

late nineteenth, early twentieth century
9 1/2" x 6 1/2", 23 cm x 16.5 cm

Even though this is referred to as a book and is very simply bound and has a front and back cover of paper the same weight as the leaves inside, in fact this is really more a collection of drawings of different sizes and on different weights of paper which have been collected and bound together.

There are twenty leaves of medium weight paper which are interspersed with many additional sheets of tissue-weight paper, each of which bears a hand drawn sumi design or drawing, each of which being very assured in its execution.  The images were drawn by an artist working in Kyoto.

The images which can be seen are varied: there are many landscapes, some renderings of frolicking birds, a stunning crane and tiger, a rendition of ikebana, rushing streams, plum branches, views of rustic landscapes with peasants working, Chinese-style sage holding the peach of immortality: this book is crammed with sketches of very good quality.

A treat of enormous delight, this book creates a fascinating world of traditional Japanese images and is a joy to pore through and study.

Very recommended.