AN UNUSUAL JAPANESE CONCERTINA ALBUM OF PRINTS

AN UNUSUAL JAPANESE CONCERTINA ALBUM OF PRINTS

EDO AND MEIJI PERIOD, 19TH CENTURY

One side of the book made of Japanese prints of European-style technical drawings, the sketches depicting guns, canons, and horse fittings; the other side used as a scrap book with 108 small engravings pasted on the paper sheets, some of banzuke type listing various professions in a specific town or region, the others of keidaizu type, the copper plates depicting bird's-eye views, maps and other depictions of various locations including Arashiyama and Kiyomizudera, each picture with calligraphy identifying the view or the event depicted; the album with wooden covers, one side inscribed in ink with characters from a poem by Chinese Ming dynasty scholar Shixing Shen (1535-1614), referring to the shadow produced by low clouds, the sound of rain and the deep roots of ancient trees, the album 25.2cm x 17.9cm.