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. I am grateful to Robert Pryor for his contributions to this section.

	Task: Flower arranging (Sôka, 挿花) Description: Crouching woman with flowering branch Publisher: Murata-ya Tetsu
	Task: Awaiting her husband Description: Publisher: Yamashiro-ya Jinbei
	Task: Preparing tea (Cha no yu, 茶の湯) Description: Kneeling woman boiling water for the tea ceremony Publisher: Murata-ya Tetsu
	Task: Preparing tea (Cha no yu, 茶の湯) Description: Kneeling woman boiling water for the tea ceremony Publisher: Yamashiro-ya Jinbei NOTE: This print, and a few other examples on this page, bears the seal of the censor Murata Sahei.
	Task: Shaping cotton (Wata, 綿) Description: Seated woman shaping cotton batting Publisher: Murata-ya Tetsu
	Task: Shaping cotton (Wata, 綿) Description: Seated woman shaping cotton batting Publisher: Yamashiro-ya Jinbei
	Task: Salt (Shio, 鹽) Description: Publisher: Murata-ya Tetsu
	Task: Sewing a kimono (Shidate, 仕立) Description: Kneeling woman sewing a kimono with a needle and thread held between her teeth; a child playing the koto in the background Publisher: Murata-ya Tetsu
	Another state also published by Murata-ya Tetsu without a pattern on the obi or the object in the foreground
	Task: Dressmaking (Shitate, 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
	I am grateful to Robert Pryor for this keyblock print for the preceding image.
	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
	Another state also published by Murata-ya Tetsu
	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
	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.
	Task: Preparing the menu (kondate, 献立) Description: Standing woman looking down at two boxes Publisher: Murata-ya Tetsu

CLICK HERE TO RETURN TO MAIN PAGE