Small prints of actors, or genre scenes with actors
produced around the mid-19c which bear seals reading "shita-uri." During
the 1840s when the ban against actor prints was particularly stringent, prints
could not be displayed, but were sold under the counter at bookstores. For that
reason, a seal bearing the words "shita-uri" or "sold under [the counter]"
was affixed to draw attention to them. |