PLUM BLOSSOM AND GREEN WILLOW: SURIMONO POETRY PRINTS

Some of the finest examples of Japanese printmaking in the early nineteenth century were the exquisitely printed woodblock prints called surimono (‘printed objects’). These privately published prints combined witty poems with elegant images by leading designers. This exhibition highlights rarely shown surimono from the Ashmolean’s collections, including a number of new acquisitions, offering a rare insight into Japanese literati culture and customs of the early nineteenth century.