A Zen Buddhist legend often depicted in Japanese ink painting tells of an elderly monk in ancient China who was so enlightened that he had no qualms about friendship with a tiger. His closest companions were two eccentric young men who also lived at the monastery, and the three men and the tiger enjoyed many carefree naps together. Masanobu’s clever print, from a larger set of parodies, shows a courtesan sleeping with her tiger-striped cat and two kamuro, child attendants.

To make a printing block, the blockcutter pasted the artist’s drawing face down on a block of wood (usually cherry), dampened the thin paper so that the ink showed through the back, and cut through the paper into the wood to make a reverse image. The block then went to a printer, who inked it with a large brush, placed the paper face down on the block, and rubbed the back with a pad (baren) to make a clear impression.

Early ukiyo-e prints were printed in ink only, sometimes with color added by hand. Later, when color printing came into use, proof impressions from the key block, with the ink outline of the picture, were used in the same way as the original drawing to cut a separate printing block for each color. Guide marks at the edges of the blocks helped the printer to position the paper precisely as each color was printed, so that all of the colors would fit together perfectly.

Popular designs such as this one were often reprinted until the blocks wore out. The block shown here is not the actual one from which the print 06.1165 was made, but rather a later, recut version for a completely new edition, possibly even made after the artist’s death.

---