Title
Okita of Naniwaya. From the series Six Famous Beauties Challenge the Magnificence of the Six Poetic Geniuses
Object Type
Creator
Date
1796, repr. early 19th c.
Notes
A lovely Japanese woman holding a cup of tea with both hands as if presenting it to someone. Her head, with hair up and bedecked with combs, is bent; her kimono has flowers and shirling stripes. Her name is Okita and the teahouse is Naniwaya. Trans. by Shigeomi, October 2009
Bijinga were beautiful Japanese women celebrated in the "floating world" of ukiyo-e, a woodblock print genre. Whether serving tea, in Utamaro's Okita of Nanimwaya, 1796, or venerating one of Japan's seven lucky gods, in Hiroshige's Enoshima Benzaiten Kaicho Nagisa, 1849, elaborately costumed women were depicted in colorful detail. As the nineteenth century progressed, ukiyo-e artists began to individualize faces and features, as well as use western perspective.
Bijinga were beautiful Japanese women celebrated in the "floating world" of ukiyo-e, a woodblock print genre. Whether serving tea, in Utamaro's Okita of Nanimwaya, 1796, or venerating one of Japan's seven lucky gods, in Hiroshige's Enoshima Benzaiten Kaicho Nagisa, 1849, elaborately costumed women were depicted in colorful detail. As the nineteenth century progressed, ukiyo-e artists began to individualize faces and features, as well as use western perspective.
Cultural Origin
Japan
Medium
Color woodblock print
Extent
mat: 16 in x 20 in; overall: 15 3/4 in x 10 1/4 in
Source
Gift of Priscilla B. Peckham
Identifier
1991.004.009
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