Open daily. Always free.
Woman Smelling Incense, from a series of Pictures of Women at Leisure

Woman Smelling Incense, from a series of Pictures of Women at Leisure

On View

Not currently on view

Utagawa Toyohiro

In the popular “incense guessing game” different aromatic woods were burned and individuals or teams tried to identify the more than 170 distinguishable fragrances. Knowledge of incense was a highly desirable attribute of cultivated courtesans, geisha, and women of the upper classes. In Toyohiro’s design, an upper-class woman dressed in a striped kimono bends her head and raises her right hand to waft the scent to her nose. The accessories for preparing incense—a lacquered tray and folded paper packet to hold fragrant samples—are placed before her bent knees. The subtly colored composition is a fine example of “red-avoiding pictures,” which used the restrained palette of yellow, purple, and black inks that were in vogue during this period.
Artist
Utagawa Toyohiro
(Japanese, 1773 - 1828)
Title
Woman Smelling Incense, from a series of Pictures of Women at Leisure
Date
1795-1800
Medium
Color woodcut
Dimensions
254 x 186 mm Overall
Credit
Bequest of John H. Van Vleck
Accession No.
1980.3111
Classification
Prints
Geography
Japan

Related

By 1922, collection of Hamilton E. Field; 6 December 1922, purchased from Field Sale (No. 372) by Anna Van Vleck; 1922, gifted by Anna to her brother and sister-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Edward Burr Van Vleck (Madison, WI); 1943, passed through inheritance to Edward’s son, John H. Van Vleck (Cambridge, MA); 9 January 1980, bequeathed by John H. Van Vleck to the Elvehjem Museum of Art [now called Chazen Museum of Art]

  • Mueller, Laura. "Competition and Collaboration: Japanese Prints of the Utagawa School." Leiden, The Netherlands: Hotei Publishing, 2007. p. 80, no. 30

  • Competition and Collaboration: Japanese Prints of the Utagawa School: Chazen Museum of Art, 11/3/2007–1/6/2008

The Chazen Museum of Art welcomes comments or inquiries about works in our collection. Please allow two–three weeks for a response. Chazen staff is not able to provide valuations or authentications and such inquiries cannot be answered.

"*" indicates required fields

Name*
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.