The Popular Type
Artist
Utagawa Kunisada I 歌川 国貞 (Toyokuni III 三代 豊国)
(Japanese, 1786–1864)
Dateabout 1822–1823
Mediumwoodblock print; ink and color on paper
Dimensions37.1 x 25.1 cm (14 5/8 x 9 7/8 in.)
ClassificationsPrints
Credit LineJohn Chandler Bancroft Collection
Object number1901.59.2528
DescriptionobanLabel TextCompeting with Eisen for popular fame, Kunisada created many outstanding print designs in the 1820s. This print from the series A Contemporary Thirty-two Physiognomies is a good example of his skilled attention to composition, detail and quality printing. The “popular type” woman is depicted seated, checking her make-up in a hand-mirror. She holds a cosmetic brush in her right hand, upraised as she smoothes the right eyebrow with her little finger; the elbow rests on a towel draped across her knee. The dragonfly ornament on her hairpin is a reference to a popular slang metaphor: a dragonfly was said to fly with its head pointing north and therefore became a symbol for men who frequented the Yoshiwara, the northern pleasure quarters.
On View
Not on view
Utagawa Kunisada I 歌川 国貞 (Toyokuni III 三代 豊国)
mid- to late 1810s
Utagawa Kunisada I 歌川 国貞 (Toyokuni III 三代 豊国)
1823
Utagawa Kunisada I 歌川 国貞 (Toyokuni III 三代 豊国)
1861
Utagawa Kunisada I 歌川 国貞 (Toyokuni III 三代 豊国)
about 1817
Utagawa Kunisada I 歌川 国貞 (Toyokuni III 三代 豊国)
1830s