The Daughter of Tomoyasu (Tomoyasu no musume), from the series "Three Beautiful Women (San bijin)"

Also from the circa 1820 Three Beautiful Women series, The Daughter of Tomoyasu (Tomoyasu no musume) refers to the mother of the celebrated Heian-period poet Izumi Shikibu, herself a poet and lady-in-waiting. The series structure—linking three female figures from across Japanese cultural history—gave kyoka contributors a layered set of references to draw on, the contemporary reader expected to recognize the historical figure and to read the print's contemporary visual idiom as a comment on her legacy. Shinsai's design renders the subject in the textile and surface detail expected of deluxe [shikishiban](/glossary/shikishiban) [surimono](/glossary/surimono) in the Bunsei era. The Art Institute of Chicago preserves the impression alongside the rest of the series, allowing scholars and viewers to read the prints as the coherent set their patrons originally received.