2-748-192 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Woman Drying Her Hands (from the series Ten Aspects of the Physiognomy of Women), c. 1793. The pose in which Utamaro presents this beauty is typical of Japanese painting and prints. The three-quarter face is rendered with the simple outline of the eyebrow and cheek, a single line for the nose, narrow eyes, and half-parted, petal-like lips. Not the likeness of a specific individual, the print instead portrays a particular mood or character. The pink mica background was created by covering the image of the woman with a stencil and then brushing mica mixed with pink colour and an adhesive onto the background. The print comes from a series that represents women from different classes.