Tagasode of the Tamaya House

Date1800-02

Maker Kitagawa Utamaro Japanese, 1754 - 1806

Label TextThe robe of this celebrated courtesan of the Tamaya house displays a starburst pattern made of tiny, white dotted resists known as kanoko shibori. This resist-dying technique was so labor-intensive and the robes so expensive that the method was banned under the Tokugawa shogunate's strict sumptuary laws. The pattern on Tagasode's robe is likely a stenciled reproduction of the fawn-dapple resist technique. --Catherine Roche, Curatorial Associate, 2010

Object number2017.23.13

Provenance[Egenolf Gallery, Burbank, California]; purchased from gallery by Allan Kollar, Seattle, Washington, 2004; to Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington, 2017

Photo CreditPhoto: Colleen Kollar Zorn

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Fleeting Beauty: Japanese Woodblock Prints, Apr. 1 - July 4, 2010. Text by Catherine Roche. Cat. no. 29, reproduced p. 52. Seattle, Washington, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Legends, Tales, Poetry: Visual Narrative in Japanese Art, Dec. 22, 2012 - July 21, 2013. Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Talents and Beauties: Art of Women in Japan, Nov. 4, 2017 - Jul. 15, 2018. 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., pp. 78, 102, reproduced pl. 41.

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

DimensionsSheet: 15 1/2 x 10 1/2 in. (39.4 x 26.7 cm)

MediumWoodblock print; ink and color on paper