Large size (nishiki-e) - Oban

...The prints in these picture books eventually became independent as purely aesthetic prints that did not require text and were separate from the format of the book. The earliest examples were Moronobu's works that dealt with subjects that did not necessarily require explanation of the content, such as erotic pictures such as erotic guides to pleasure quarters (e.g., "The Body of Yoshiwara") or well-known story pictures (e.g., "Shuten-doji of Mt. Oe"), and these were usually composed as a set of 12 large horizontal prints (approximately 27-30 cm x 36-46 cm), equivalent to two double-page spreads in a book. In addition, while ink-printed prints were the standard specification, special colored prints were also produced, with expert artists from the workshop carefully adding color to the brush. ...

*Some of the terminology that refers to "Oban (Nishiki-e)" is listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…こうした絵本における版画は，ついには文章を不要とし本の形式とも離れた純然たる鑑賞版画として独立するにいたる。その最初期の例が，春画をはじめ遊里案内などの風俗画(例，《吉原の躰》)あるいは人口に膾炙（かいしや）した物語絵(例，《大江山酒呑童子》)など，必ずしも内容の解説を要しない主題を扱った師宣作品で，それらは普通，本の見開き2ページ分に相当する横大判(約27～30cm×36～46cm)12図一組の組物として構成された。また，墨摺絵を標準仕様としたが，工房所属の専門絵師が丁寧に筆彩を加えた特別上製の彩色版画も作られた。…

※「大判（錦絵）」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典 第２版について | 情報