Toyokuni III was one of the greatest exponents of such depictions of Kabuki classical Japanese dance-drama scenes and actor portraits, vividly capturing the stylised expression and elaborate make-up of the performers. This was one of the great themes of Ukiyo-e (pictures of the floating world) woodblock prints, popular from the 17th to the end of the 19th centuries. The 15 highly colourful diptychs include one signed as Kunisada, and one by Kuniyoshi.

The single-page oban prints include 14 plates from the two series of Seisho Nanatsu Iroha, (The Seven Variations of the Iroha), and Nanatsu Iroha Shui, (After the Seven Iroha), both published in 1856, most depicting a single kabuki actor portrait below a panel depicting a screen or scroll, containing the seven calligraphic variants of syllables from the old Kana phonetic alphabet. The remaining 4 include plates by Yoshitora and Hiroshige.


concertina-style folding 4to. album (36 x 24.5 cm), comprising 18 single-page oban, and 15 diptych yoko-e colour woodblock prints, of which 14 single- and 12 double-page are by Toyokuni III, 1 single-page by Yoshitora, 1 double-page by Kuniyoshi, 1 double-page by Kunichika and 2 single-page parodies by Hiroshige, folding between embossed limp covers, title label pasted to upper cover, the lower with an ink inscription, dated 1880, in German, partially disbound.