Tan-e is the Japanese term for ukiyo-e prints dominated by hand-applied colors rather than separate color blocks.
Tan-e were early colored ukiyo-e images made by applying a yellow-orange pigment, traditionally called tan, to impressions that were often printed in black. The color could be brushed onto selected areas after the main impression had been taken from the block.
This process belongs to the early development of ukiyo-e printing, before the sophisticated registration of multiple color blocks became standard. It allowed printers and artists to enliven otherwise monochrome images without carving a separate block for every colored region.
Tan-e should not be confused with nishiki-e, in which multiple blocks produce a full-color image, or benizuri-e, which uses a limited red-based palette. The distinction concerns both the pigment and the production method.