$500–$4,000. Common subjects: $500–$1,500. Key value factors: Maekawa's early sosaku-hanga works are historically significant. Bold, expressive prints are most valued.
The Oharame are women from the village of Ohara, north of Kyoto, who for centuries carried bundles of firewood, charcoal, or seasonal flowers atop their heads into the city to sell. Their attire — head wrap, dark kimono, white sleeve covers, indigo work apron — made them recurring figures in Kyoto folk imagery. Maekawa, born in Kyoto in 1888, knew the Oharame as a part of his native city's daily street life. His print focuses on a single woman or a pair, rendered in the rounded, slightly humorous figural style that became his signature. Rather than a glamorized [bijin-ga](/glossary/bijin-ga), the image reads as a portrait of working women, with attention to the load balanced on the head and the steady gait of someone walking a long route. Broad knife-cut lines, flat color planes, and selective [bokashi](/glossary/bokashi) describe the figure efficiently, in the spirit of [sosaku-hanga](/glossary/sosaku-hanga)'s turn away from academic refinement.
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Oharame — 大原女 was created by Maekawa Senpan (前川千帆).
Oharame — 大原女 depicts figures, market scenes, and daily life.
