Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III). Yayoi (Third Month), from the series “Five Seasonal Festivals” (Gosekku no uchi) / Fan print, 1854.

Inscriptions:
Title: Yayoi [弥生] — Third Month; Gosekku no uchi [五節句之内] — Five Seasonal Festivals, in a red cartouche, upper right
Signature: Toyokuni ga [豊國画], in a red toshidama cartouche, lower left
Block carver: hori Mino [彫巳の], in a yellow rectangular cartouche for Koizumi Minokichi (小泉巳の吉), lower left
Publisher: Tsuji [辻] enclosed within a square for Iseya Ichiemon (伊勢屋市右衛門), upper right
Censor: aratame [改] — approved, upper right
Date: 2/1854 (弐寅) – Kaei 7, upper right

Description:
Aiban yoko-e uchiwa-e (団扇絵), 220 × 290 mm. Bust-length portrait of a woman in three-quarter view, turning left, holding a toothpick to her lips. Her coiffure is arranged in a formal shimada style with hairpins and combs; a tortoiseshell kotoji kanzashi (琴柱簪) is adorned with a rabbit, and a tama kanzashi (玉簪) is decorated with a mamezō balancing toy (豆蔵人形), the same motif repeated on the title cartouche. She wears a blue striped robe with white flowers and gourds, and patterned hexagons in indigo, brown, and white; the layered collars combine black, red, and blue-and-white textiles. She holds rolled sheets of paper under her arm.

Behind the figure, a coastal landscape unfolds at low horizon: boats lie offshore, and numerous small figures are engaged in seasonal outdoor activities. The sky, sprinkled with mica (kirazuri, 雲母摺), shifts from pale pink near the horizon to deep blue above, creating a twilight or early-evening effect.

Note: Two more fan prints from the same series are recorded in the Kunisada Project database (Horst Graebner):

Condition: Cut out and backed; collector’s stamp in the lower left of the backing; wormage; local discolouration.