Artwork preview

Books of Flowers and a Writing Brush

Ryūryūkyo Shinsai

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The image depicts a still life with a writing brush and two books of flowers. The writing brush has a black handle and a brown tip, lying horizontally across the bottom of the image. One book lies on top of the other, both are open. The top book is dark blue-green with a beige strip down the center; it has a repeating brown pattern. The bottom book has a light background with orange and green illustrations of a stem with leaves and a flower. The pages of both books have Japanese writing on them. The background is beige with darker beige and brown spots and Japanese writing.

Artwork details

Date:
19th century
Medium:
Woodblock print (surimono); ink and color on paper
Culture:
Japan
Dimensions:
569 × 625 px
Museum record:
View original
Palette