Artwork Page for Cleaning Combs

Details / Information for Cleaning Combs

Cleaning Combs

c. late 1790s

Kitagawa Utamaro 喜多川 歌麿

(Japanese, c. 1754–1806)
Culture
Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)
Medium
color woodblock print
Measurements
Sheet: 38.2 x 25.4 cm (15 1/16 x 10 in.)
Credit Line
Bequest of Edward L. Whittemore 1930.216
Public Domain
You can copy, modify, and distribute this work, all without asking permission. Learn more about CMA's Open Access Initiative.
Location
Not on view
Print

Description

In this print, a mother who has put up her child's hair into a neat bun cleans the comb. By the latter part of the Kansei era, or 1789-1801, Utamaro was frequently incorporating the activities of daily life into his images of beauties. Beyond serving as portraits, and depicting the bonds between mothers and children, the prints also take the view of a detached observer in their representations of everyday settings.
A vertically oriented color woodblock print depicts three light-skinned figures on a neutral ground. In the upper center, a woman in a patterned blue kimono cleans a wooden comb. Below her, a child sits with a hand to face. In the lower left, another woman reclines on her back with head tilted upward, holding a decorated fan. To the right lies a tray with grooming tools; Japanese calligraphy marks the left side.

Cleaning Combs

c. late 1790s

Kitagawa Utamaro

(Japanese, c. 1754–1806)
Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)

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