Two Young Ladies Having Tea Attended by Elderly Servant

Two Young Ladies Having Tea Attended by Elderly Servant is a [surimono](/glossary/surimono) by Ryuryukyo Shinsai in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Working in the Hokusai school as a pupil of Katsushika Hokusai, Shinsai designed many figure subjects for the privately commissioned surimono format. In this composition, two young women are shown taking tea together, attended by an older female servant who supports the gathering. The scene reflects the cultivated domestic life of urban Edo-period Japan, where the careful preparation and sharing of tea was both a daily ritual and a setting for conversation, friendship, and the exchange of poetry. Shinsai's treatment of the figures is characteristically reserved: the elegant postures of the young women, the modest attention of the servant, and the carefully arranged tea utensils between them all reinforce a sense of decorum and quiet sociability. The print exhibits the lavish production techniques associated with surimono, including embossed blindprinting ([karazuri](/glossary/karazuri)) in the patterned fabrics of the women's robes, delicate color gradations across the textiles and porcelain, and discreet metallic pigments suggesting the burnish of lacquer trays and tea utensils. As a surimono, the sheet was commissioned by a kyoka poetry circle, whose verses, inscribed on the print, would have responded to the warmth of the scene and the seasonal occasion. The image typifies Shinsai's gift for converting an unassuming domestic moment into a study of refinement. Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art, https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/54403.