Chaps. 4, 5 of Legends of the Dog Warriors (Hakkenden) : [volume 3]

Utagawa, Yoshimune, 1817-1880 · 1860 · Japan : [producer not identified] · 18 pictures

A Japanese woodblock-printed volume from 1860, illustrated by Utagawa Yoshimune (1817-1880) and published in Japan, with its text in columns of vertical kana beside the pictures. The four plates show samurai in patterned robes and armour, a seated lord with attendants indoors, and figures amid bushes and piled stones, drawn in clean black line with grey wash. A designer could take from them the dense, rhythmic layering of pattern in kimono and armour, and the way text columns sit alongside the images.

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