Title : The Doll Festival at a Military Household

Artist : Katsukawa Shuncho

Date : c. 1781 - 1801

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Source : Honolulu Museum of Art
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Description : These two sheets of a triptych show the interior of a samurai (military) household whose members are in the midst of preparing for the Doll Festival on the Third day of March in the lunar calendar. The girl in the center is carrying a bowl of clam-shells painted with designs. These are for playing a shell matching game. The lady in a black kimono is carrying a flower arrangement to decorate the tokonoma (alcove). It is easy to discern marital status from the length of the sleeves: long for (usually young) and single women and short for married women. By the late 18th century, the obi (sash) for women became much wider and longer. The new focus was on various styles of sashes. In this print, Shunchö has playfully designed one of sashes: the black sash of a young girl on the very left shows two Chinese letters (kanji) saying “Sen’ichi.” This is the name of the publisher of this print. (from "VOGUE in Japan: Edo Fashion through Japanese prints" exhibition 07/30/08-)

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