active ca. 1870-1908
Illustrations of Chignons by Women of Great Japan
(Dai Nihon Fujin sokuhatsu zu kai)
signed Shosai Ginko with red artist's seal, the publisher's information on the upper left corner of the left sheet within in the yellow cartouche formed by the curling end of the long informative text, shuppanjin (publisher) Okura Magobei (of Kin'eido), and dated in lower left corner, on todoke Meiji juhachinen kyugatsu (registered Meiji 18 [1885], September), and priced ni [sen] kyu [rin] (2 sen 5 rin), 1885
oban tate-e triptych 14 3/8 by 29 5/8 in., 36.5 by 75.1 cm
A beauty sits before a kyodai (vanity) while a maid works on dressing her hair. Scattered around her are illustrations mimicking carte-de-visite type photographs of various chignon hairstyles, with front, back and profile views.
This triptych was produced in support of, or prompted by, the establishment of the Fujin Sokuhatsu Kai (Women's Chignon Society) in 1885. The first part of the long text promotes chignon hairstyles as being healthy, and thereby benefiting the nation. The second half provides detailed instructions on how to create the newly socially acceptable hairstyles.
References:
The British Museum, accession no. 2014,3037.4.1-3
The University of British Columbia Library, Asian Rare-6, no. L3:3
(inv. no. 10-5334)
Temporarily RESERVED on behalf of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, for inclusion in the Japanese Art Society of America's 50th anniversary traveling exhibition, Meiji Modern: 50 Years of New Japan, on view in Houston, July 7 - September 15, 2024.
price: $1,900 (reserved)