Hands inside the Sleeves (Futokorode), from the series Eight Views of Tea Stalls in Celebrated Places (Meisho koshikake hakkei)

ca. 1795-96

Japanese, 1754 - 1806

The "Eight Views" was a popular conceit in Chinese and Japanese poetry and painting. Artists often depicted eight views of famous places immortalized in classical poetry. Here, however, Utamaro gives us eight tea stalls-or rather, their waitresses-who often supplied more than food and drink. In this print the waitress smiles downward at an unseen client.

--Catherine Roche, Curatorial Associate, 2010

Woodblock print; ink and color on paper

Sheet: 15 x 9 1/2 in. (38.1 x 24.1 cm)

Gift of Mary and Allan Kollar, in honor of the 75th Anniversary of the Seattle Art Museum

2017.23.6

Provenance: [Sotheby’s, London, Japanese Works of Art, Prints & Paintings, Nov. 9, 2006, sale no. L06861, lot no. 754, reproduced p. 754]; purchased at auction by Allan Kollar, Seattle, Washington, 2006; to Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington, 2017

Photo: Colleen Kollar Zorn

Not currently on view

Resources

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Fleeting Beauty: Japanese Woodblock Prints, Apr. 1 - July 4, 2010. Text by Catherine Roche. Cat. no. 21, reproduced p. 44.

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Legends, Tales, Poetry: Visual Narrative in Japanese Art, Dec. 22, 2012 - July 21, 2013.

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Renegade Edo: Japanese Prints and Toulouse-Lautrec, July 21 - Dec. 3, 2023. Text by Xiaojin Wu. No cat. no., p. 100.

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