Two Ladies, Each with a Portion of a Lacquered Mirror
Original title: Two Ladies, Each with a Portion of a Lacquered Mirror
kurzbeschreibung
A sheet by Kitagawa Utamaro from the 1790s, issued as a colour woodblock print in ink and colour on paper. Two women appear, each holding one half of a round lacquer mirror — a subject squarely within the ukiyo-e tradition.
Description
In front, a woman stands presenting a dark round mirror decorated with flowers; her kimono is pink and white with black and gold patterns, her hair dressed high and ornamented with blossoms. Crouched on the floor is a second figure in a dark grey kimono with white dots and red accents, also holding such a mirror piece. Both direct their gaze toward the mirror, while the ground stays a soft, blurred beige-brown. Two signature characters sit at the lower right.
Context
The print was made in the 1790s, when Utamaro was chiefly admired for his pictures of women from the pleasure quarters. The mirror motif draws on Edo-period culture of beauty care and self-regard. The sheet belongs to a series devoted to everyday scenes of courtesans.
Impact
The two figures hold a calm, well-balanced relation to one another, and the warm palette of pink, brown and gold gives the sheet a harmonious, elegant tone. Because the light falls evenly and casts almost no shadow, a quiet, intimate mood arises.
Technique
Printing was done with water-based colours on paper, with several blocks used for the individual tones. Crisp contours and the carefully executed patterning of the kimono attest to the high print quality of those years; the lines and tonal values reveal how precisely the separate printing passes were matched to one another.
AI-generated description text
Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)