Keihitsu tobaguruma (The Cart of Caricature): 9 Toba-e woodblock prints

Published by Terada Yoemon, Osaka, Kyôhô 5 (= 1720). Volume 3 of 3 only. 9 double sheets with woodblock prints. Binding damaged; most of the wood bock prints also damaged. For details, see photos. In spite of the excessive rarity, an important copy for reference purpose.

A very early publication with caricatures in the toba-e style. Probably the first one, published long before the toba-e hype started in Japan (second half of 18th century). This publication was reproduced in Japan several times until the end of the 19th century. This is the original first edition, which is more or less unfindable outside of museums.

Toba-e is a style of Japanese painting based on works from the 12th century that are attributed to Toba Sōjō. These "Toba-style" images were caricatures sometimes involving animals performing human tasks. Toba-e style images gained popularity as a commercial medium in mid-eighteenth century Edo. Though their popularity did not stay strong, Toba-e images have left a lasting impact through today, particularly in manga. Toba-e style paintings, as were popular in the Edo period, are marked by their comedy over just their visual content. The images should be cheerful and relaxed, but yet humorous. A sense of sarcasm is understood. Color is used light and conservatively. The focus of the image is on the simplicity and precision of the brushwork forming outlines. Strokes for the outlines and details are all applied with very crisp edges, but the shapes those outlines take are extremely playful and organic.

Through the 18th century in Edo, Toba-e images became very popular. Earlier collections of prints being bound together to be sold opened the door for the creation of a comic-style book. Toba-e was created using accordion-style books to present a large amount of image in a compact and manageable format. This allowed painters to create longer narratives than before in a reproducible size. This is in contrast to earlier books of pictures, which were nothing more than an assembly of random or pre-existing prints with no narrative, or a weak one added after the fact. These continuous narratives would bleed into other mediums, such as panel comics, and still continue even though Toba-e would die out. These narratives maintained many traits from Toba Sōjō's earlier works. They generally maintained the right to left viewing style, but also included very little or no text. These books also maintained much of the visual style of Toba-e. The used strong outlines to represent the forms, very fluid strokes, and maintained the same playfulness but attention to drama. In terms of subject matter, Toba-e did diverge greatly from the works that were attributed to Toba. These books were sold in the entertainment districts, and as such were chosen to depict subjects that would be appealing to the people who would visit there, such as an image of a kabuki star or of city folk, rather than the far out quirkiness depicted in Chōjū-jinbutsu-giga. (from Wikipedia).