Artist: Torii Kotondo
Medium: Original Limited-Edition Japanese Woodblock Print
Series Title: Beauties
Edition: First State, #/200 - Paper Label
Date: 1929
Publisher: Kawaguchi/Sakai
Reference No.: The Female Image #170; Waves of Renewal #242
Size: 18 -1/2 x 12 "
Condition: Very fine, with superb colors
Notes:
A special example, that still retains all the brilliant colors the artists imagined. Purple highlights still present in two sections of the beauty's hair (See attached image). Signed: Kotondo saku with artist's seal Kotondo. Dated: Showa yonen jugatsu [Showa 4 (1929), 10th month]. Title: Kamisuki embossed within the bottom margin, publisher's seal Kawaguchi/Sakai embossed at lower right edge, and hori Ito suri, Komatsu, hanken shoyu [carved by Ito, printed by Komatsu, copyright] at lower left margin. With limited edition paper label hand-numbered on verso, Gaikoku yuki ni-hyaku mai kagiri zeppan, dai rokujusan go, Torii Kotondo (for foreign export, limited edition of 200 printed, by Torii Kotondo) with artist's red circular seal Kotondo.
The design shows a young woman combing her hair after a bath; the whirling pattern created by the printer's baren imparts the feel of steam in the image. The contour lines of the woman's figure are defined by blind-printing and overprinting, while the beautifully rendered flesh tones provide texture to the print.