Japanese school: Two e-hon (ehon) with warriors and animated scenes and two advertisements of Brussels distributors of Asian art, Meiji, 19th/20th C.

拍品描述

Japanese school: Two e-hon (ehon) with warriors and animated scenes and two advertisements of Brussels distributors of Asian art, Meiji, 19th/20th C. Kohon and folio. The advertisements concern: 'Ancien Maison Philippart - Charles Antoine, Successeur - 53 Rue de la Madeleine - Bruxelles' and 'La Compagnie Japonaise - 25 Rue Royale - Bruxelles'. 'La Compagnie Japonaise' is a historic Belgian company (active at the end of the 19th/the beginning of the 20th C.) specializing in the import of precious Asian goods. E-hon (絵本; or ehon) is the Japanese term for picture books in general or more specifically to a type of woodblock printed illustrated volume. E-hon were intended as much for viewing as for reading. Covering an array of subjects, they combined images with brief captions, poems or short essays depicted in elegant calligraphy. This style of brief narrative text accompanying each illustration has led to ehon being referred to as the forerunners of modern Japanese manga or cartoon books. Early ehon were printed monochromatically until colour was introduced in the eighteenth century through printing techniques adapted from China. Their visual richness and narrative versatility made them accessible to a wide audience, helping to bridge elite artistic traditions with the tastes of an expanding urban readership. In this way, ehon played a key role in shaping the development of illustrated storytelling in Japan.

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