Group of 14 Large, Hand-painted Illustrations of Edo era Punishments depicting the trial, tattooing, and penalties for criminals
[Japan] A very interesting group of large, hand drawn and painted illustrations showing various scenes related to the trial, tattooing, torture, execution, and tameshigiri (test cutting) of two criminals. The images (or extremely similar ones) can be seen in the 1893 book by Fujita Shintaro, 'Illustrated Guide to the Punishments of the Tokugawa Shogunate'. We are unsure if the 14 prints were copied from the book or whether the images in the book were copied from the prints. The prints appear to have been made before 1893 but we cannot be sure of this.
Artist unknown. Each print approx. 29 x 44cm.
In good condition. The prints are backed with very thin paper and a few sheets have some minor loss (that look white thanks to the backing paper). General age wear and minor damage only. m36041594
