Description
Yamauba sits with Kintoki high behind her shoulder, holding a dark oval mirror near small grooming implements. The close arrangement gives the legendary pair the immediacy of a domestic encounter. Kitagawa Utamaro brings the act of tooth-blackening identified in the title into a familiar bodily routine, connecting an imaginative subject with ordinary attention to appearance.
Dating to around 1795, the work is made in ink on mulberry paper rather than a color woodblock format. That medium gives the named encounter a distinct material identity within Utamaro’s art. Its interest lies in the combination of figures and activity, allowing the domestic moment to remain central without expanding it into an unsupported episode from their larger story.
Read our guide to giclée prints or browse the Kitagawa Utamaro collection.
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.