This week we researched and listed a unique and delightful book of hand-colored Japanese woodblock prints:
A Thousand Species of Shells - Kai Chigusa by Yoichiro Hirase
(4 Volumes of Japanese Woodblock Prints of Seashells)
Created by a collector, dealer and scholar of Malacology--Hirase Yoichiro (1859-1925)--to fill an dearth of Japanese books on seashells, these four volumes each contain 100 hand-colored illustrations of seashells. According to the preface, his objective was to create a reference that could be used by artists as well as scientists.
Each volume contains twenty 2-page traditional Japanese prints, featuring 100 images of Japanese shells. This rare, complete set is bound in a traditional Japanese accordion fold style, with solid boards on top and bottom, opening from left-to-right with Japanese and Latin text.
From Wikipedia: "Woodblock printing in Japan is a technique...widely adopted in Japan during the Edo period (1603-1868). Although similar to woodcut in Western printmaking in some regards, the moku-hanga technique differs in that it uses water-based inks—as opposed to western woodcut, which often uses oil-based inks. The Japanese water-based inks provide a wide range of vivid colors, glazes, and transparency."
