Cleveland Museum of Art

Cleaning Combs

Kitagawa UtamaroLinkedCulture matchlcp-39e686abde8d

Date

c. late 1790s

Medium

color woodblock print

Culture

Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)

Department

Japanese Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

Object ID

111687

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.

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