There is a modern brilliance to the traditional art on this cube. The works include Thai, Chinese and especially Japanese art, focussing on the early 9th- to early 20th centuries. There is a special focus on Japanese surimono, or privately-published woodblock prints. Unlike the better known, commercially-printed ukiyo-e prints ('pictures of the floating world'), surimono were commissioned by private patrons to distribute to a limited circle of friends. Because money was no object, surimono often used high quality materials and sophisticated printing techniques. The Chester Beatty Library contains some of the finest manuscript treasures of the great cultures and religions of the world, bequeathed to the Irish people by American mining magnate and collector Sir Alfred Chester Beatty, who chose Ireland as his place of retirement. Includes descriptive storycard in color explaining signficance and provenance of each work of art.