Artist: Utagawa Kuniyoshi (歌川国芳) (1797–1861)
Signed: Ichiyūsai Kuniyoshi ga [一勇斎 國芳画] in red cartouche
Date: Tenpō 14 to Kōka 1 (1843–44); VI/1842 – V ic/1846, single nanushi censor seal Murata (村) for censor Murata Sahei [村田佐兵衛].
Publisher: Unknown, Izuzen (Bei, 米); Marks 06-028 | U103a
Media: Rigid fan print (Aiban Yoko-e Uchiwa-e, 合判横絵 団扇絵), 224 x 290 mm
Half-length portrait of a woman facing slightly to the right. She wears a patterned kimono with multiple floral and seasonal motifs, including uchiwa (round fans), plum blossoms, maple leaves, chrysanthemums, snow-covered bamboo, pine branches, and peonies. Her obi is tied in front, and a red collar is visible beneath the layers. Her hair is arranged in an elaborate updo and is adorned with a hairpin featuring a rabbit and a crescent moon, referencing lunar symbolism. She dedicates a hand towel at a washing trough (手水舎, temizuya) in a shrine. In the background, several towels are hanging, featuring various mon (family crests), symbols, and inscriptions:
- Three oak leaves – Shinto priesthood kamon
- Crossed or intersecting hawk feathers – family crest of Asano Naganori (浅野 長矩, 1667 – 1701)
- Kiri-mon (Paulownia crest, associated with Kuniyoshi)
- Toshidama (seal of the Utagawa school)
- Masu (枡, measuring box) motif – a square with diagonal lines
- Kanōya Fukusuke (叶屋 福助) – probably a restaurant; 福助 = Fukusuke (a traditional lucky figure with a large head and formal attire.
References:
- Kuniyoshi Project
- [LIB-3428.2025] Christie’s, New York: Japanese Prints, Paintings, and Screens, Monday, 24 November 1997 / Sales Catalogue, № 130, p. 63.
- [LIB-3466.2025] Fan Pictures by Kuniyoshi: Cats, Kabuki Actors, and Girls (in Japanese). — Tokyo: Ōta Memorial Museum of Art, 2012; № 121. 奉納手拭 (Hōnō tenugui, Dedication Hand Towel, or Votive Towel). Tenpō 14 to Kōka 1 (1843–44). The image shows a hōnō tenugui — a towel used as a votive offering — displayed at the top of the composition, bearing the names of donors, as commonly seen in dedications at temples or shrines. The names of donors are often written on such clothes. The signature and seal used by Kuniyoshi here include “Kuniyoshi” and “Ichiyūsai,” names often found on works from the early Kōka era. According to Iwakiri Yuriko, this mark signals the beginning of Kuniyoshi’s use of the “Ichiyūsai” signature, which began around the second half of the first year of Kōka (1844). This example is considered an early piece using that seal.
