Woman as the Hero Taisō in Palanquin Holding a Pipe
- Date:
- c. 1830
- Medium:
- Woodblock print (surimono), ink and color on paper
- Format:
- Oban
- Dimensions:
- 20.2 × 17.8 cm
- Source:
- Minneapolis Institute of Art
Description
A woman is dressed and posed as the hero Taiso seated in a palanquin and holding a long kiseru pipe, a prop associated with sophisticated urban identity. This cross-gender mitate (parody or comparison) prints a beautiful woman in a heroic male role, a genre that Kuniyoshi and his contemporaries enjoyed for the incongruity of applying warrior gravitas to feminine grace. The surimono format indicates a luxury print produced for a private patron or poetry circle around 1830.
More Prints by Utagawa Kuniyoshi
Yan Qing (Roshi Ensei), from the series "One Hundred and Eight Heroes of the Popular Water Margin (Tsuzoku Suikoden goketsu hyakuhachinin no hitori)"
Poem by Abe no Nakamaro, from an untitled series of One Hundred Poems by One Hundred Poets
Hu Sanniang (Ko Sanjo Ichijosei), from the series "One Hundred and Eight Heroes of the Popular Water Margin (Tsuzoku Suikoden goketsu hyakuhachinin no hitori)"
Miya, Kuwana, Yokkaichi, and Ishiyakushi, from the series "Famous Places on the Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido, Four Stations (Tokaido gojusan eki yonshuku meisho)"
More Figures Prints
Featured in Collections
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Frequently Asked Questions
Woman as the Hero Taisō in Palanquin Holding a Pipe was created by Utagawa Kuniyoshi (歌川国芳) in c. 1830.
Woman as the Hero Taisō in Palanquin Holding a Pipe depicts figures, bijin-ga, and travel scenes.
Woman as the Hero Taisō in Palanquin Holding a Pipe measures 20.2 × 17.8 cm (Oban format).