Despite the potentially high numbers of prints, Edo's many conflagrations, the Prints known in only single impressions, but whether this indicates a very small edition or a terrible loss to natural or man-made disasters is Of 500, probably indicating that at least some surimono were issued in larger editions when the occasion demanded it. Yet there was a theatrical surimono by Katsukawa Shunkô published in 1789 in an edition Only in late nineteenth century re-cut copies). Their relative rarity today appears to bear this out (some surimono survive in only single impressions, and some are known It appears likely that surimono (privately distributed prints for special occasions) were issued in expensive, limited editions of perhapsĢ00 sheets or less. In mind that some blocks were carved on both sides): Sheet #1 = 25 impressions from 14 printing surfaces on 8 blocks sheet #2 = 26 impressionsįrom 10 printing surfaces on 6 blocks and sheet #3 = 23 impressions from 13 printing surfaces on 7 blocks. For example, Kuniteru's triptych required the following (keeping The complexity of printing even a standard design with only 5 or 6 colors. Pull many hundreds of impressions before the wear and tear on the blocks made the edition untenable. Nakamura was said to have printed a triptych titled Inaka Genji ("Rustic Genji") by Kuniteru at the rate of 3,000 sheets perĭay from the keyblock, plus 700-800 sheets per day for the color blocks! This extraordinary number suggests that a master printer could indeed Tokuno (see bibliography below) describing Japanese printmaking, the printer Tsurûsaburô A late-nineteenthĬentury biography of the prolific artist Utagawa Kunisada (1786-1865) stated that some of his prints were issued in three or four thousandĬopies over the lifetime of the original woodblocks, and a publisher's diary also indicated that Kunisada's prints were issued in thousands Some researchers claim that many hundreds, if not thousands, of impressions were made in standard commercial editions. Were high enough, many editions would be printed, amounting to thousands of impressions, until the images finally stopped selling. After that, additional impressions were made on demand, in groups of 200. The son of the late-period Osaka master Ichiyôsai Yoshitaki (1841-1899), wrote a commentary titled Nishiki-e ni naru made ("How color prints are made") in which he mentioned that the initial stack of impressions from a first edition would numberĪbout 200 impressions. This number is based partly on how many impressions could beĬompleted within about a week's time by a single printer for an edition of an unexceptional full-color print design. The likely number for the first commercial run of a ukiyo-e print design. Some writers on ukiyo-e suggest that a standard edition of 200 was Many present-day collectors would like to admit. The standard number of prints in a commercial edition was probably much higher than How many impressions were made of each print? FAQ: Impressions, States, Editions, and Quality
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