Girl Pouring Tea

This print places a female figure in the domestic ritual of pouring tea, a subject that allows Sekino to organize the composition around gesture and the implied arc of liquid between vessel and cup. Genre scenes of this type in the [sosaku-hanga](/glossary/sosaku-hanga) tradition prioritize the particularity of the moment over idealization, and Sekino's handling of such subjects typically foregrounds the concentration of the figure — the slight lean of the body, the angle of the wrist — as a means of psychological access. The tea-pouring motif permits a layered arrangement of objects: the tray, cups, and teapot create a horizontal plane against which the vertical figure is set, and the warm earth tones associated with ceramics contrast with the cooler colors of a kimono or room. Printed from hand-carved blocks on [washi](/glossary/washi), the work exemplifies Sekino's integration of everyday Japanese domestic life into serious printmaking practice.