Ironing a Kimono (1)

Depicting a woman pressing a kimono with a charcoal-heated iron, this print belongs to a Meiji genre tradition of representing women at household tasks that also display their mastery of textile culture. The composition likely shows the figure leaning over a padded board or folded fabric, the kimono spread flat to reveal its pattern — an opportunity for Shuntei to demonstrate [nishiki-e](/glossary/nishiki-e) color printing through the textile's design. The posture of ironing creates a naturalistic diagonal line through the figure. Genre prints of domestic labor from this period simultaneously document changing household practices and maintain the [bijin-ga](/glossary/bijin-ga) convention of idealizing the female subject within her material environment.