Coleus

Among the nine coleus designs attributed to Taisui, this print explores the plant's layered foliage through a distinct compositional arrangement. The coleus leaf's pronounced serrated margins and concentric color banding — typically moving from a bright central zone through contrasting outer rings — provided Taisui with an inherently graphic subject suited to woodblock rendering. This variant may feature leaves viewed at a steeper angle or a different cluster depth than others in the series, shifting the balance between transparency and density. The Sakai-Kawaguchi printing atelier would have applied delicate [bokashi](/glossary/bokashi) within individual leaf zones to model the surface tension of the leaves and their transition between color fields.