Artwork preview

Three Young Women Masquerading as Komuso (Strolling Minstrel)

Torii Kiyonaga

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The image depicts three young women standing in a row. The woman on the left wears a black kimono with orange and white accents. She has her dark hair in a bun and plays a small flute. A basket-like object hangs from her left arm. The woman in the middle wears a yellow kimono with orange and blue accents. She also has her dark hair in a bun and holds a shamisen. The woman on the right wears a white kimono with black and orange accents. Her dark hair is also in a bun. The background is a light beige color. The women are drawn in a traditional Japanese style with bold lines and minimal shading.

Artwork Details

Date
ca. 1778
Medium
Woodblock print; ink and color on paper
Culture
Japan
Dimensions
474 × 624 px
Public Domain
Yes
Museum Record
View original
Palette

You May Also Like

The Promenade
Dancers of Tachibana Street
Geisha of the Tachibana Street
A Lady from a Samurai Household with Three Attendants, from the series A Brocade of Eastern Manners (Fūzoku Azuma no nishiki)
The Beauty of the Floating World
Three Women Standing on the Seashore
The Oiran Utagawa of Matsubaya attended by Her Kamuro Yoshino and Tatsuta
High-Ranking Samurai Girl with Four Attendants, from the series A Brocade of Eastern Manners (Fūzoku Azuma no nishiki)
Two Women in Summer Costume Taking a Young Girl to a Shinto Temple for the Miya Mairi Ceremony
Two Geishas Out Walking
Two Women Accompanied by a Maid
The Oiran Wakoku of Echizen-ya attended by a Shinzo and a Kamuro
Two Geisha Preceded by a Maid Carrying a Lantern
To-no Sawa (Name of one of the hot springs at Hakone)
The Courtesan Karauta of the Ōgiya Brothel, from the series “A Pattern Book of the Year’s First Designs, Fresh as Spring Herbs” (“Hinagata wakana no hatsu moyō”)
Courtesans Beneath a Wisteria Arbor (Fuji dana shita no yūjo tachi)
The Oiran Hanaogi of Ogiya attended by Two Shinzo and Her Kamuro Yoshino
Enjoying the Evening Cool at Nakasu
Ashinoyu Spring in Hakone
The Third Segawa Kikunojō as Ochiyo and Bando Mitsugorō as Hanbei
Women Watching a Girl Dance on Shells (From the series Fashionable Presentations of Three Horses)
The Courtesan Sugatami of the Tsuruya Brothel, from the series “A Pat-tern Book of the Year’s First Designs, Fresh as Spring Herbs” (“Hinagata wakana no hatsu moyō”)
In the Room of a House of the Yoshiwara
The Courtesan Nishikigi of the Yotsumeya Brothel, from the series “A Pattern Book of the Year’s First Designs, Fresh as Spring Herbs” (“Hinagata wakana hatsu moyō”)