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                  VICTORIA & ALBERT MUSEUM CATALOGUES




TOOLS AND MATERIALS ILLUSTRATING THE JAPANESE METHOD OF COLOUR-PRINTING

    A DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE OF A COLLECTION EXHIBITED IN THE MUSEUM




                            By Edward Strange




London
PUBLISHED BY HIS MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE

1913
            [THE MAKING OF COLOUR-PRINTS--WOMEN AS ENGRAVERS.]

UTAMARO.--Yedo Meibutsu Nishikiye Kosaku. "The making of colour-prints, the
famous product of Yedo: after the engraver's rough engraving the design is
    carefully carved."  An illustration of the carving of wood-blocks
    fancifully represented as being done by women. From a print in the
                   Victoria and Albert Museum. J. 5040.





CONTENTS


PREFATORY NOTE
HISTORICAL NOTE
THE DRAWING
CUTTING THE BLOCK
PRINTING
PAPER
BOOKS OF REFERENCE





PREFATORY NOTE


This pamphlet has been prepared by Mr. Edward F. Strange, of the
Department of Engraving, Illustration and Design, for use primarily in
connection with a collection of Tools, Materials and Examples, specially
brought together and now exhibited in the Museum, to illustrate the
technique of Japanese Colour-printing from wood-blocks. The descriptive
matter has been somewhat amplified, in order to render it of value to
those who cannot immediately refer to the Museum collections.

The works of reference consulted, are named herein; and acknowledgment
must also be made to Mr. Hogitaro Inada, for translations from the
Japanese, kindly supplied by him.

                                                              CECIL SMITH.
Victoria and Albert Museum, 1913.

                          ----------------------





LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS


UTAMARO.--Yedo Meibutsu Nishikiye Kosaku. "The making of colour-prints, the
famous product of Yedo: after the engraver's rough engraving the design is
carefully carved."  An illustration of the carving of wood-blocks
fancifully represented as being done by women. From a print in the
Victoria and Albert Museum. J. 5040.
DIAGRAM:----Method of framing a block to prevent warping.
DIAGRAM:--The _Baren._--Its internal construction
DIAGRAM:--The _Baren._--Position of pad in sheath.
DIAGRAM:--The _Baren._--Method of use.
DIAGRAM:--Printer's Desk.
HOKUSAI.--Original drawing for the key-block of an unpublished colour-print
in the series called "The Hundred Poets explained by the Nurse." A junk,
with straw sail, conveying three travellers; at the bow a breaking wave.
At the top right-hand corner is a poem by Hoshoji no Nyudo Saki no
Kwampaku Daijo Daijin.  O'er the wide sea plain, / As I row and look
around, It appears to me / That the white waves, far away, / Are the
ever-shining sky. From a drawing in the Victoria and Albert Museum. J. D.
1447.
TOYOKUNI. I.--Working proof from the key-block of a colour-print. A
theatrical scene; with the actors Nakayama Tomisaburo and Ichikawa Komazo
in the parts of the Geisha Sankatsu and Hanshichi.  The artist has added a
wash of red colour to the print, with the following MS. note to the
printer, "Please gradate the colour like this." From a print in the
Victoria and Albert Museum. J. 8494.






HISTORICAL NOTE


The process of colour-printing from wood-blocks, used in Japan from the
early part of the 18th century, has much in common with that of the
so-called _chiaroscuro_ wood-cuts first produced in Italy and Germany
during the 16th century, of which the work of Andrea Andreani (1540-1623)
supplies good examples. It is possible that the Japanese method was
derived from this source, either directly or by way of China. Japanese
tradition ascribes the invention to Takekawa Minosuke (Manji Period, A.D.
1658-1660); and a volume of Costume Designs in the Museum, dated 1667 (O4.
C. 20), is printed in colours, only one, however, being used on each
plate. The Chinese are known, with certainty, to have employed this
process before the end of the 17th century; but no Japanese colour-print
has yet been recorded, which can be placed, authentically, earlier than
the second quarter of the 18th century. Credit for the first production of
them is generally given to Torii Kiyonobu (1664-1729); but the greatest
development was due to Suzuki Harunobu (died A.D. 1770, aged 67 years).
Japanese authorities say that the improvements popularized by this artist
were invented by an engraver named