Teahouse Waitress

Artist Kiyonaga, Torii (Japanese, 1752–1815)

Dateabout 1784–1788

MediumWoodblock print, ink and color on paper; nishiki-e; hashira-e

Dimensions67.5 x 12.5 cm (26 9/16 x 4 15/16 in.)

ClassificationsPrints

Credit LineJohn Chandler Bancroft Collection

Terms

Object number1901.206

DescriptionStanding figure of a tall woman who holds a small black tea-cut stand, and turns to look behing her toward the left. She wears a pink obi and a blue skirt that has at the bottom a pattern of stalks of tokusa (the flowering rush) in white.
Label TextTorii Kiyonaga (1752-1815) Teahouse Waitress About 1784-88 Artist's signature: Kiyonaga ga Woodblock print, ink and color on paper; nishiki-e; hashira-e John Chandler Bancroft Collection, 1901.206 Kiyonaga, the last great pillar-print artist, designed more than one hundred and twenty-five pillar prints. Most of them are full-length representations of stately, mature women. This print presents a teahouse waitress wearing a kimono with a pointed ivy-leaf (tsuta) pattern and an apron decorated with a scouring rush (tokusa). Her hair is secured with a few hairpins (kanzashi). The waitress turns to see whether her customer has everything he needs: she has brought him a tea-cup on the small cup-tray that she holds in her hand and a tobacco box placed on the tatami-covered dais. The lower part of a paper-ProvenanceJohn Chandler Bancroft, Boston, MA

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