A court lady holding a folding-fan, from

A print depicting a court lady holding a folding fan — one of Chikanobu's many images of aristocratic women in the historical dress of various imperial court periods. The folding fan (sensu) was one of the defining accessories of Japanese court culture, serving as a status marker, a communication device, and an artistic object in its own right. Chikanobu's court ladies with fans participate in a tradition of imagining the imperial court's feminine world that extended from classical Heian literature through centuries of artistic interpretation.