Surimono is a particular type of Japanese woodblock print, from the early 1800s. Usually small in form, they contain exquisitely tiny Kanji characters forming poems, as well as beautiful drawings. Being produced mainly for a small select band of literati they tend to be finer but also more experimental than commercial prints of the era.
This exhibition highlights some of the treasures from the Ashmolean's vaults, and some new acquisitions. One highlight is the picture above, depicting Ono no Tofu, a 10th-century calligrapher and statesman. He is shown with a frog, who is teaching him to persevere by repeatedly trying to jump up onto a Willow branch, in a typically moral and encouraging Japanese folk tale.
Image details: A series for the Gathering of the Elders of Poetry. It was commissioned by the Hanazono-ren poetry circle Totoya Hokkei (1780-1850) c.1822. Colour woodblock print,, with blind relief printing and metallic pigments. © Ashmolean, University of Oxford
