The Actor Segawa Kikunojo III as a Woman in Black Robe Holding a Straw Hat

Utagawa Toyokuni I's 1798 woodblock print in ink and color on paper shows a single full-length figure in profile against a bare cream ground, bent slightly forward with head bowed and eyes downcast. The figure — titled as the actor Segawa Kikunojo III in the role of a woman — wears a black robe with two round crests over a mustard-gold patterned sash and sleeve, and a pale robe printed with faint floral sprays; a white cloth drapes over an elaborate black coiffure with its corner held near the mouth, a wide dark hat is held behind the shoulder, and the long mauve-edged hem trails across the ground. A vertical cartouche with the actor's name in Japanese characters sits at upper left, and the artist's signature with a red seal appears at lower left.