Combing

A woman draws a comb through her hair, her arms raised and her gaze turned slightly inward. Combing is one of the quintessential subjects of Kotondo's bijin-ga — an action that reveals the length and texture of the hair, the architecture of the arms, the private absorption of a woman tending to herself. The October 1929 date places this among the concentrated burst of masterworks Kotondo produced in the final years of his most active period before his output effectively ceased.