Battledore

A print from 1896 depicting a battledore — the flat wooden paddle used in the traditional New Year's shuttlecock game of hanetsuki — combined with images of the graceful women who played it, one of the classic winter leisure subjects of Japanese print art. The battledore game, played primarily by young women and girls during the New Year season, combined physical activity with an elegant visual display that made it a natural subject for bijin-ga. Chikanobu's version employs the nishiki-e technique's full color palette to render both the decorated paddle and the kimono-clad players.