Edo prints
| Design: | Kitagawa Utamaro (1753-1806) | |||||
| Series title: | Seven women applying make-up using a full-length mirror | |||||
| Size: | 38.4 x 24.9 cm (ōban) | |||||
| Posthumous printing from newly cut woodblocks | ||||||
| Photography: | Jacques Commandeur |
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Special effects: silver mica on the mirror.
Originally published ca. 1792-3 by publisher Tsutaya Jūzaburō (1750-1797), this reproduction was published ca. 1920 under the supervision and in the studio of Hashiguchi Goyō (1880-1921) from newly carved woodblocks.
Series title in top right print area:
| Character | Reading | Meaning | Translation |
| 姿 | sugata | figure | |
| 見 | mi | show | |
| 七 | shichi | seven | |
| 人 | nin | person | Seven women |
| 化 | ke | turn oneself into | applying make-up |
| 粧 | shō | adorn | using a full-length mirror |
The series title suggests that seven of these prints were produced, but this apparently never happened.
Kiwame (‘approved’) censorship seal and Tsutaya Jūzaburō publisher seal 03-001 in lower right print area, see Marks (2011, p.39).
Followed by artist’s signature:
| Character | Reading | Meaning | Translation |
| 歌 | uta | poem | |
| 麿 | maro | you | |
| 画 | ga | picture | Drawn by Utamaro |
References
- Asano, Shūgō, and Clark, Timothy (1995). The passionate art of Kitagawa Utamaro (2 volumes in slipcase). Tokyo: Asahi Shimbun.
- Collia-Suzuki, Gina (2009). The Complete Woodblock Prints of Kitagawa Utamaro. A Descriptive Catalogue. Weston-super-Mare, United Kingdom: Nezu Press.
- Marks, Andreas (2011). Publishers of Japanese Woodblock Prints: A Compendium. Leiden: Hotei Publishing.
Provenance: Fuji Arts