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Three Beauties of the Present Day
Kitagawa Utamaro
A mica-ground portrait print whose reflective surface cannot tolerate contact of any kind.
- Artist
- Kitagawa Utamaro
- Date
- c. 1793
- Medium
- Woodblock print with mica ground
- Dimensions
- 37.9 × 24.9 cm
- Location
- Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
History
What the record shows
Utamaro identified three real women of the day by their crests rather than by name.
The mica ground abrades at the slightest pressure, so the sheet is handled only in a rigid mat and never rolled.
Provenance
Chain of ownership
- 01Published by Tsutaya Jūzaburō, Edo, c. 1793
- 02William Sturgis Bigelow collection
- 03Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
