Matsumoto Hoji

While not much is known about the printmaker Matsumoto Hoji, his series of frog woodblocks remain remarkably popular to this day. Active in the late 18th century, his works were originally included in the "Meika Gafu", a compendium of famous and popular artworks produced in the late Edo period around the turn of the 19th century. Much like trading cards today, woodblock prints were shared, reproduced and coveted amongst friends, and collections like the "Meika Gafu" brought the most renowned and celebrated works together into a single book. The original was so popular that they made another two volumes, the last of which contains the now-notorious series of Matsumoto Hoji's frogs.