Old style and new style exemplified in actor portraits and in scripts, set against a background imitating gold-flecked writing paper. Colour woodcut by Kunisada I, 1852.

In this delicate print, the portraits are placed on trompe l'oeil writing papers of different eras. They are by Kunisada I (1786-1865), on the right in his own 'modern' style and on the left copying or parodying Kiyomitsu I (1735-1785)'s style which was current to c.1700. It thus celebrates the long tradition of Ukiyoe actor portraiture

Half-length figures

Edo [Tokyo] : [publisher not identified], 1852.

1 print : woodcut, printed in colours

Ichiyōsai Toyokuni-ga ; Torii Kitomitsu-ga Bears publisher's mark, block cutter's mark, censor's seal, actor's role and set title Set title in cursive script; the style of script varies from print to print in the set The signature is in vertical blue panels

Ancient and modern coloured writing papers compared

Wellcome Collection 35945i