Set of eight Japanese Meiji period woodblock prints

These exceptional works, a set of eight prints in total, date to Japan's Meiji period, and depict a series of scenes and portraits of beautiful Japanese female figures in sumptuous drapery, engaged in the activities and lifestyle of Japanese nobility. 

The Meiji period was a time of great economic, political, and cultural change, which also saw the island open up to the world, and in which many skilled craftsmen and makers turned their hands to more cultural pursuits, including sculpture, fine art, and prints, such as these, which saw a huge surge in quality and production around this time.

Prints in this manner also had a huge artistic impact on European art when they arrived here. These prints are a beautifully and skifully executed set, wonderful artistic items, and fine examples from an era of great cultural and artistic change and development. 

Frames: small: height 40cm, width 31cm, depth 1cm - prints: 25 x 17
Medium: height 49cm, width 37cm, depth 1cm - prints: 35 x 24
Large: height 52cm, width 37cm, depth 1cm - prints: 35 x 22