A Professional Baffoon, from a untitled series of 12 prints

Also from the untitled series of twelve oban sumizuri-e of around 1710, this sheet depicts a professional buffoon (taikomochi), a male entertainer who worked the Yoshiwara teahouses as a kind of master of ceremonies, joke-teller, and dance leader. The taikomochi - sometimes translated as 'jester' or 'male geisha' - was a recognized profession in the licensed pleasure quarter, and Kiyonobu's print captures the figure mid-performance, his exaggerated facial expression and animated pose conveying the slightly disreputable theatricality of the role. Without color, the composition relies on the artist's characteristic swelling contour line to give the figure substance. The Art Institute of Chicago holds this impression alongside the other surviving sheets from the same series.