Long Undergarment (Nagajuban)
- Date:
- 1929
- Medium:
- Color woodblock print; keyblock plus red block only (finished print: 1936.226)
- Format:
- Oban
- Dimensions:
Kotondo is best known for bijin-ga, but his complete oeuvre includes actor prints and other figure subjects. His small corpus of only 21 designs ensures that all authenticated period impressions carry collector interest and scarcity premiums.
A proof impression showing the keyblock and red block stages of the "Long Undergarment" design, this working document records the compositional structure before the full palette of colors was added. A woman arranges her nagajuban, her body turned in a posture that reveals the garment's fall from her shoulders. Such intermediate states are rare survivals of the woodblock production process, offering insight into the layered construction of Kotondo's luminous finished prints.
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Long Undergarment (Nagajuban) was created by Torii Kotondo (鳥居言人) in 1929.
Long Undergarment (Nagajuban) was published by Watanabe Shozaburo (1929).
Long Undergarment (Nagajuban) depicts figures and bijin-ga.
Long Undergarment (Nagajuban) measures 45.5 × 30.3 cm (Oban format).
