Detail: Nineteenth-century Japanese color printing’s highest level of accomplishment is seen in the small, exquisite works known as surimono, which were produced on commission for private, individual customers. Because they were not sold to the general public, these prints were not limited either by government sumptuary laws intended to curb extravagance, or by economic prudence on the part of publishers. They could be as elegantly designed and luxuriously printed as the patrons requested.