Toba-e (Japanese: 鳥羽絵, Hepburn: tobae) 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.

TOBA-E SANGOKU-SHI. 3 Vols., Osaka, Kawachiya Kihei and Kawachiya Eisuke, Kansei 5 [1793]. 25.8 x 18.5 cm. Original dark blue covers, string-bound Japanese style, fukuro toji, with the pink printed paper title labels. A nice 18th century edition of this work in good impression. Originally published in the 1720's.

Description From a dismantled album of comic pictures entitled Keisai toba ehon (An Album of Comic Pictures by Keisai Eisen), 1997.617 to 1997.649. Each sheet pasted onto paper, tucked into an album with brown silk covers and handwritten titleslip.

[ehon]. TOBA-E SANGOKU-SHI. 3 Vols., Osaka, Kawachiya Kihei and Kawachiya Eisuke, Kansei 5 [1793]. 25.8 x 18.5 cm. Original dark blue covers, string-bound Japanese style, fukuro toji, with the pink printed paper title labels.

Toba-e 鳥羽絵 (Toba pictures) are a type of giga 戯画 (humorous pictures) featuring cartoon-like figures with very thin arms and legs, round heads, black circles for eyes and large mouths. …

This treasure trove of artistic ingenuity is none other than “Toba Ehon” (鳥羽絵本), attributed to the enigmatic 17th-century artist Toba Sōjō (鳥羽僧正). Imagine a world populated by mischievous goblins, grotesque demons, and anthropomorphic animals engaged in ludicrous activities.

In the eighteenth century, Toba-ehon (Toba picture books) and hanjimono (visual puzzles or rebuses) parodied politics and other dimensions of Japanese society. Both relied on amusing visual puns with secret meanings (Duus 2001, 968).

Ehon is the Japanese name for books illustrated with ukiyo-e woodblock prints. They were very popular during the Edo (1603–1867) and Meiji (1868–1912) periods. The prints depicted...

Description From a dismantled album of comic pictures entitled Keisai toba ehon (An Album of Comic Pictures by Keisai Eisen), 1997.617 to 1997.649. Each sheet pasted onto paper, tucked into an album with brown silk covers and handwritten titleslip.

MLA Format. No Division, NYPL item, but not associated with any one Division, e.g. NYPL Art Work, The New York Public Library. "EHON" The New York Public Library Digital Collections.2006.