Artwork Page for Women Watching a Girl Dance on Shells (From the series Fashionable Presentations of Three Horses)

Details / Information for Women Watching a Girl Dance on Shells (From the series Fashionable Presentations of Three Horses)

Women Watching a Girl Dance on Shells (From the series Fashionable Presentations of Three Horses)

1784

Torii Kiyonaga 鳥居 清長

(Japanese, 1752–1815)
Culture
Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)
Medium
color woodblock print
Measurements
Sheet: 36.3 x 24.8 cm (14 5/16 x 9 3/4 in.)
Credit Line
The Kelvin Smith Collection, given by Mrs. Kelvin Smith 1985.330
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
Print

Description

Dancing plays a significant role in festival celebrations and special occasions. The young girl is dancing on a pair of bivalve shells (also used as game pieces in other amusements), accompanied by the music of the samisen (3-stringed guitar).
A vertically oriented woodblock print depicts five figures with light skin tones in patterned robes of black, orange, and gray. In the foreground, a girl at the left dances while a woman sits beside her playing a shamisen. Behind them, two women stand, one holding a long pipe, while a third woman sits looking upward. Columns of Japanese calligraphy occupy the top left corner against a plain background.

Women Watching a Girl Dance on Shells (From the series Fashionable Presentations of Three Horses)

1784

Torii Kiyonaga

(Japanese, 1752–1815)
Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)

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