Utamaro - Shamisen Player and Child

Kitagawa Utamaro

A Shamisen player and a child. Woman Playing a Shamisen while her son clasps her; "Sekidera Temple" (Sekidera), from the series Fashionable Adaptations of the Seven Komachi Plays.

This print belongs to a series showing contemporary women and children likened to Noh plays based on seven legendary episodes in the life of the ninth-century poetess Ono no Komachi. In the play Sekidera Komachi, the elderly Komachi is staying at a hut near Sekidera Temple in Ōtsu City, northeast of Kyoto, and is visited by two monks and a child who want to learn about poetry, and the child dances to gagaku (ancient court music).

Publisher: Unknown

Condition: Very good color and condition. Silver background. Some minor stains as shown.

Date: Original was 1803 - this is 20th century reprint.

Genre: Ukiyo-e

Medium: Woodblock Print