MS 7336 Mitsui konomi miyako no nishiki
odd: label: Variant Titles
content: Select Mitsui designs (or city fashions)

Brocades of the Capital, Mitsui-style

The seasons and their fashions
label: Local Numbers
content: NAA INV 08820900

MNH-Ethnology Accession Number 276,682

MNH-Ethnology Catalog Number 409,542
name: label: Artist
content: Mizuno, Toshikata, 1866-1908
place: label: Place
content: Japan
label: Place
content: East Asia
topic: label: Topic
content: Ukiyoe
creator: label: Artist
content: Mizuno, Toshikata, 1866-1908
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Toshikata Mizuno (1866-108) was a painter and illustrator best known for genre subjects treated in a modified ukiyo-e manner with Shijō style.  Toshikata was born in Edo (Tokyo) and began his study of ukiyo-e at the age of fourteen.  In 1887, he joined the newspaper Yamato shinbun as an illustrator. He also produced several lithographs for the literary magazine Shinshosetsu and senso-e (war prints) during the Sino-Japanese war.  In 1900 he organized a group of painter friends, called Ugōkai, and aimed at improving the art of ukiyo-e. Toshikata died in Tokyo in April 1908.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 1 Volume (Silk-covered accordion book, 7 x 9.75 inches)
label: Extent
content: 12 Prints (colored woodcuts, 85 x 12 inches)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1905-1906
container: label: Container
content: Box 7336
custodhist: label: Custodial History
content: Collected in Japan in 1945 or 1946 by Elennore C. Sullivan. Sullivan donated it to the Smithsonian in 1968. The item was transferred from the object collections of the Department of Anthropology to the National Anthropological Archives by Chang-su Houchins, July 1983.
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: National Anthropological Archives
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NAA.MS7336
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Graphic Materials
label: Type
content: Volumes
label: Type
content: Prints
label: Type
content: Fashion illustrations
label: Type
content: Works of art
label: Type
content: Woodcuts
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: Information and translations furnished by Chang-su Houchins, of the Department of Anthropology. She consulted Laurance P. Roberts, A dictionary of Japanese artists, 1976, and Noritake Tsuda, Handbook of Japanese art, 1976. Date of drawings from Woodblock kuchi-e prints : reflections of Meiji culture by Helen Merritt and Nanako Yamada.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Fashion illustrations
label: Genre/Form
content: Works of art
label: Genre/Form
content: Woodcuts
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The collection consists of a silk-covered accordian book of thirteen (13) color woodcut prints from the series "Brocade Pictures from the Capital". This series of designs was commissioned by the Japanese department store Mitsui in 1898 and published by Akiyama Buemon (Kokkeidō).  The prints were re-issued in 1905-06.  The prints in this collection have English titles and appear to date from 1905-1906.  In twelve images, women and girls are shown in different surroundings and activities, dressed according to the season. The title page contains an image of the table of contents written on an open notebook wth a basket of various flowers in the background.

Please note that the contents of the collection and the language and terminology used reflect the context and culture of the time of its creation. As an historical document, its contents may be at odds with contemporary views and terminology and considered offensive today. The information within this collection does not reflect the views of the Smithsonian Institution or National Anthropological Archives, but is available in its original form to facilitate research.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Materials
content: Objects donated with this item, including silk cloth and sandals, are held by the Department of Anthropology Collections (Acc 276682).