Pen drawings of cloth brushes and jewel trunks with handwritten captions

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Pen drawings of brushes and jewel trunks, each labeled in handwriting, make this sheet an unusual find on a board otherwise full of woodblock landscapes and actor portraits. The captions name the objects directly, so the drawings work almost like a page from a craftsman's notebook or a merchant's inventory of tools and boxes. Sheets of this kind were often made to record goods or to teach technique, and they reward a close look at the economy of the line and the way the handwritten notes sit beside each object. Because the record gives few further details, the sheet is best read as a practical document of its period rather than a work of fine art.

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