Beauty of the Kyoho Period

A third variant in the Kyoho period bijin series, this print depicts a female figure in early eighteenth-century dress distinguished from her counterparts in the set by specific details of pose, garment, or coloring. The Kyoho period is associated with a shift toward more restrained surface decoration following government sumptuary edicts, a constraint that craftsmen circumvented through sophisticated dyeing and weaving techniques visible in the depicted textiles. Kiyochika's treatment of the kimono fabric would exploit the woodblock medium's capacity for fine patterning through precision carving and careful registration of multiple color blocks. As part of a coordinated set, this sheet contributes to a composite image of Kyoho femininity that invites comparison across all four figures.