Ogata Gekko gekko portrait Bijin Hana Kurabe

The Bijin Hana Kurabe (Comparison of Beautiful Women and Flowers) consists of 24 oban prints. Prints were issued initially in 1887 and can be found dated up to 1899. Some sets were issued in concertina album format with a page extolling the publishers (Matsuki Heikichi). Very high production values can be found, with editions on thick washi paper and with a lot of metallic overprinting. Unfortunately these features do not show up well on web pages but I hope the images give some sense of the beauty of this series.

 

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