Spring Rain Collection (Harusame shu), vol. 2: Cut Flowers: Clematis, Bush Clover, Iris, Camellia, and Azalea. Artist: Kubo Shunman (Japanese, 1757-1820). Culture: Japan. Dimensions: 8 5/16 x 11 1/16 in. (21.1 x 28.1 cm). Date: 1815 (Year of the Ox).Surimono are privately published woodblock prints, usually commissioned by individual poets or poetry groups as a form of New Year's greeting card. The poems, most commonly kyoka (witty thirty-one syllable verse), inscribed on the prints usually include felicitous imagery connected with spring, which in the lunar calendar begins on the first day of the first month. Themes of surimono are often erudite, frequently alluding to Japanese literary classics in both texts and images. Museum: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA.