A brush-maker checks the tip of a brush while a young girl sitting behind him plays with a ball. A pot of brushes in front of the man, next to it a lacquered box, probably containing more brushes.
The Brush-maker, Fudeshi, from the series The Thirty-six Poets as Craftsmen, Shokunin sanjurokkasen.
The original design of 1802 was reprinted as Plate 18 in the Kyoka Album - A Mirror of Craftsmen, Kyoka - Ehon shokunin kagami, of 1803. Impressions such as this in an almost square format are believed to have been printed from the original blocks with the text of the poems re-cut in larger script, much as they had been for the album reissue of 1803. This is a still later reprint.
One poem by Ki—sai Higashi—.
The poem speaks of 'the First Writing of the New Year by the plum tree of Kameido'.
The typically bold calligraphy seen here, identical to that in the album edition of 1803, was written by Kumagawa Kohamatei.
Issued by an unidentified commercial(?) publisher
Signature reading: Sori ga
