Mirror of Women’s Tasks
(Fujin tewaza kagami, 婦人手わざ鏡)
c. 1843
This series shows beautiful women performing various tasks. It is listed as number 141 in Kuniyoshi by Basil William Robinson (Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1961). Most or all of the prints were published at least twice by two different publishers. Murata-ya Tetsu published the prints with a red title cartouche and colored stylized clouds; Yamashiro-ya Jinbei published the prints with gold speckling and either a red or a blue title cartouche. The prints are each about 14 by 10 inches (36 by 25 centimeters), a size known as ôban. |
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Task: Awaiting her
husband Description: Publisher: Murata-ya Tetsu |
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Task: Awaiting her
husband Description: Publisher: Yamashiro-ya Jinbei |
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Task: Preparing tea
(Cha no yu,
茶の湯) Description: Kneeling
woman boiling water for the tea ceremony Publisher: Murata-ya Tetsu |
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Task: Preparing tea
(Cha no yu,
茶の湯) Description: Kneeling
woman boiling water for the tea ceremony Publisher: Yamashiro-ya Jinbei |
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Task: Shaping
cotton (Wata,
綿) Description: Seated woman
shaping cotton batting Publisher: Murata-ya Tetsu |
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Task: Shaping
cotton (Wata,
綿) Description: Seated woman
shaping cotton batting Publisher: Yamashiro-ya Jinbei |
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Task: Salt (Shio) Description: Publisher: Murata-ya Tetsu |
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Task: Sewing a kimono (Shidate, 仕立) Description: Kneeling
woman sewing a kimono with a needle
and thread held between her teeth; a boy playing the koto in the background Publisher: Murata-ya Tetsu |
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Task: Sewing a kimono (Shidate, 仕立) Description: Kneeling
woman sewing a kimono with a needle
and thread held between her teeth; a boy playing the koto in the background Publisher: Yamashiro-ya Jinbei |
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I am grateful to Robert Pryor for this keyblock print for the
preceding image. |
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Task: Dying cloth (Some mono, 染物) Description: Woman attaching
natural fibers to the edges of a length of blue cloth Publisher: Murata-ya Tetsu |
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Task: Dying cloth (Some mono, 染物) Description: Woman attaching
natural fibers to the edges of a length of blue cloth Publisher: Yamashiro-ya Jinbei I am grateful to Robert Pryor for this image. |
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This keyblock print (kyôgô or kyôgozuri-e), of
the above design, is an impression pulled from the first woodblock made by a
carver from Kuniyoshi’s original drawing. |
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Task: Description: Publisher: Murata-ya Tetsu |
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