Monday, May 04, 2009

Fukuoka Simplicity

Fukuoka woodblock n


Fukuoka woodblock o


Fukuoka woodblock h


Fukuoka woodblock a


Fukuoka woodblock e


Fukuoka woodblock c


Fukuoka woodblock d


Fukuoka woodblock g


Fukuoka woodblock b


Fukuoka woodblock


Fukuoka woodblock i


Fukuoka woodblock j


Fukuoka woodblock k


Fukuoka woodblock l


Fukuoka woodblock m



These are Edo period woodblock illustrations (from the late 1700s to early 1800s). Of that much I am certain. Beyond that, your guess is as good as mine. Needless to say this disparate collection is by a variety of artists from a number of books. It is hosted by the Fukuoka University in Western Japan. 'Click everywhere' is the motto I followed. The translations were, at best, confusing.

Regrettably, the images are not particularly large. All of the above examples have had the watermark removed together with a variable amount of background restoration (silverfish/pest damage/staining). One hopes some preservation work on the originals is being undertaken. Still, it's a nice set, with early cartoons, random fun doodle-like figures, caricatures and more elaborate scenes, all manifested through the mostly sparse line work and precise multi-woodblock printing technique.

Inadvertently via the Architecture on Paper blog.

11 comments :

Victoria Thorne said...

simply exquisite. fascinating & beautiful. thank you.

Anonymous said...

Kuwagata Keisai, Saito Shuho

Isil said...

it somehows reminds me of Miyazaki´s Mononoke Hime.

The boar, the working ladies, the battles.

ken_n_arch said...

Hello.
Thank you for checking my blog.

This Fukuoka University's page uses very old style Kanji, so the automatic translations become more confusing.

http://aopaper.exblog.jp/

Kittybriton said...

The first couple of pictures had me wondering "is this going to be a swine flu post?"

BAD Kitty!

peacay said...

Well, if you knew just *how* close I got to including some semi-disguised reference or an alt tag mention of it, you wouldn't feel so bad. But then I figured *someone* would say something!

I think the names *Hana* mentions are the illustrators.

Isil, I don't know Mononoke. But I'm sure I've seen similar boar/pig semi-abstracted chase scenes before... somewhere or other.

And ken_n_arch, thanks: I've been following your site for a few months.

lotusgreen said...

thanks again peacay for turning me on to another new site; i don't think i've seen any of these before.

but they remind me of something i've noticed -- how sometimes the ones that look the most minimally modern, even abstract, are often the oldest.

Hoito said...

it looks fabulous

Li Ferreira Nhan said...

"Simples e fascinante!
Amei o último; o extraordinário cavalo.
Obrigada pelo site."
Li

Sorry, do not speak English,
use Google translate Portuguese/English :(

"Simple and beautiful!
Loved the last; the extraordinary horse.
Thanks for the site."
Li

Patrick Wirbeleit said...

Simply beautiful!
Lots of very very interesting stuff on your blog! Looks like a lot of work to collect all of these unique informations from the net!
Thank you for that and thank you for your comment on my blog! I`ll put a link to yours soon.
P.

4ojos said...

Thanks a lot for removing de watermarks. One wonders whether its use does any good

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