Heika Zu - Illustrations of Flower Arrangements in Vases Large format manuscript book with about 150 designs
[Japan] Impressive, hand drawn, large format, manuscript book of ikebana flower arrangements in vases. Drawn on very fine paper, most illustrations are single page but some are double-page. Ten or so leaves are blank. Almost all the arrangements are drawn directly onto the paper, but a couple of the arrangements at the end of the book are pasted in (but also hand drawn). One of those is dated later (1867) than the rest of the book (1864) so it would seem a couple of arrangements were added later. Titled, 'Heika Zu' in Japanese, literally 'Vase Flower Illustrations'. The inside rear cover is dated 1864 and indicates the person who wrote the manuscript as Yokota Sadajiro. There is also a folded letter inserted at the front of the book, also dated 1864, referring to ikebana that was written by someone named Kondo Hokyo.
95 leaves. 33.7 x 24.5cm.
In good to very good condition. Some general age wear, marks, and minor creasing. A couple of leaves have short closed tears. Otherwise very good. m37051868
