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Album of the Phoenix Bird (Ranpō jō)

Nakai, Rankō, 1766-1830 · 1806 · 7 pictures

Album of the Phoenix Bird is a Japanese calligraphy model book compiled by Nakai Ranko and printed in 1806 for students and practitioners of brush writing. The four pictures show enlarged woodblock-printed strokes and characters in heavy black ink on cream paper, with ragged dry-brush edges and bold sweeping forms a designer could borrow for expressive lettering or texture.

Thomas J. Watson Library, The Metropolitan Museum of Art · No known copyright restrictions · More from this library