A woman dresses her hair beside kitchen buckets and a kettle

In the left half of this two-sheet composition, a seated woman in a checked kimono holds a mirror and combs out a long lock of hair, a comb in her other hand. Behind her a second woman, a baby peering over her shoulder, works a comb through the loosened hair. Wooden buckets, a lidded pot, and a kettle with a wire handle are stacked at right beside a well-frame lined with woven matting; the artist's signature 'Utamaro hitsu' appears vertically down one bucket. Published as a kitchen-genre diptych, this sheet forms the left half; the companion sheet continues the scene with two more women at a cooking fire.

Kitagawa Utamaro (c. 1753–1806) defined the ukiyo-e portrait of women. Working with the publisher Tsutaya Jūzaburō in the 1790s, he introduced the ōkubi-e, or large-head print, which brought the viewer close enough to read a glance or a gesture, and he gave the beauties of the Yoshiwara district individual faces and names. Mica grounds, transparent textiles and fine line work made his prints the most refined of their day. His work is held by the British Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Printed as a museum-grade giclée on Hahnemühle fine art paper using 12-ink archival pigment printing. Available handframed in FSC-certified wood with optional float glass, or unframed. Ships worldwide with free delivery to 30+ countries.