Description
Elegant original woodblock print known with the descriptive title “Woman Dancing with a Fan” (団扇を持って踊る婦人), made by the artist Toyohara Chikanobu (豊原周延) and depicting a beauty wearing a refined kimono (着物) decorated with a plum tree in bloom and holding a maiogi (舞扇) dancing fan in her right hand.
The work is taken from the “True Beauties” (真美人), a popular series of prints in which the artist interprets in his own way the general interest that was present in the Meiji Period (明治時代) in defining new canons of beauty, depicting various female figures, of all ages and ranks, engaged in different activities and suggesting to the observer the possibility of finding true beauty in each of them.
The print on Japanese washi paper (和紙), produced in October 1897 by the publisher Akiyama Buemon (秋山武右衛門), despite the right signs of aging and a slight stain on the top right, is in overall very good condition.
