Itō Shinsui (伊東深水) (artist 02/04/1898 – 05/08/1972)

A Hooded Woman - Okoso-Zukin [お高祖頭巾]

Print

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Date:1950
Dimensions:14.5 in x 20.25 in (Overall dimensions) Medium:Japanese woodblock print
Inscription:Signed: Shinsui (深水)
Publisher's circular seal in the lower right: Watanabe (ワタナベ )
Links Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Minneapolis Institute of Art
The National Museum of Asian Art
National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo - a small black and white reproduction Description:The woman is holding a janomegasa (蛇の目傘) or oiled paper umbrella.

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According to Ruth Shaver in Kabuki Costume, fig. 122: "In the okoso zukin [御高祖頭巾], which is worn only in female roles, the cloth covers the entire head and is pulled down along the checks [sic] and crossed under the chin, the ends being draped over the shoulders and left to hang down the back."

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There appear to be several different artist's seals used on copies of this print. There are also quite a few variations in coloration. Nothing dramatic, but subtle differences are noticeable.

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Illustrated:

1) in color in a full-page reproduction in 伊東深水全木版画 (All the Woodblock Prints of Itō Shinsui), Machida City Museum of Graphic Arts, 1992, #124, p. 189. The artists seal in that example is different from this one.

2) in color in The Female Image: 20th century prints of Japanese beauties, Abe Publisher, 2000, #88, p. 79.

3) in color in Seven Masters: 20th-Century Japanese Woodblock Prints from The Wells Collection, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 2015, p. 147.

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There is another copy of this print in the John and Mabel Ringling Museum of Art.
Related entities modern prints (shin hanga - 新版画) (genre)
Watanabe Mokuhan Bujitsu Gahō (渡邊木版美術画舗) (publisher)

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