Gallery 2B: Ukiyo-e Reproductions in Miniature

The collection generally avoids miniaturized reproductions of prints that were not originally designed as such and/or that were published posthumously. However, the collection has also attempted to represent the full history of woodblock prints. This is difficult for ukiyo-e prints from the Edo period since images were infrequently printed in miniature with some exceptions for woodblock erotic prints and prints for specific purposes such as playing cards and senjafuda (votive slips), A new market for miniatures appeared after the opening of Japan to the West. This included woodblock printed prints for postcards, greeting cards, and souvenirs of travel, Many classic ukiyo-e images were reproduced in miniature including complete sets of some artist’s series.

The works in this gallery are primarily from a set of 100 postcard sized prints inserted into the Taisho era book One Hundred Masterpieces of Famous Ukiyoe published by the Takamizawa Colour Print Studio, Tokyo. The set illustrates the progressive development of the woodblock printing technique during the Edo period and reflects the great detail and skill that went into producing these reproductions. Individual prints are worth studying both in regard to the skill involved in simplifying an image for miniaturization and for the intricacy of woodblock carving and printing, which at times included special techniques such as the addition of mica or embossing.

Additional miniature reproductions in the collection are included at the end of this gallery.

Prints from One Hundred Masterpieces of Famous Ukiyoe. Published by Takamizawa Colour Print Studio, Taisho Era.

Titles from the original print are included, when possible. Titles are otherwise those that from the book; these are often simplified descriptions of the content. Although the publisher provided birth and death dates or dates of activity for artists, these often conflict by a few years with those from other reliable sources. The dates represented her are those generally agreed upon by scholars. Dates with question marks represent the dates used by the publisher when no other source is available.