TSUKIOKA YOSHITOSHI (1839-1892)

Published late in his career, Fuzoku sanjuniso depicts female subjects from across the spectrum of contemporary social classes and occupations and is widely considered to be a tour-de-force of design and quality of printing. Identified as 'waitress', 'housewife' or 'Kyoto geisha', their elaborate robes and fabrics designed by Yoshitoshi required flawless carving of the woodblocks. In addition, the use of complex and time consuming techniques including 'imitation woodgrain' (itame mokuhan) for the title cartouches, blind-printing, shading (bokashi) and burnishing adds to their sumptuousness.