Red comb

The kushi (comb), often lacquered red and worn fixed in the hair, was a standard accessory of the geisha, courtesan, and married townswoman in Edo and early Meiji Japan, and a recurring motif in bijin-ga across centuries of ukiyo-e. Mori's treatment likely centres on a female figure for whom the comb provides the chromatic accent—a single saturated vermilion against the muted ground of robe and skin. His bijin departed from the elongated, idealised canon of Utamaro or Eishi, instead favouring shorter, more solidly built figures rendered in vigorous outline and flat colour, with little use of bokashi gradation. The print probably exploits the contrast between the deep black of the dressed hair and the bright lacquer of the comb itself, with the kimono pattern occupying the larger compositional field. Such intimate, single-figure subjects formed a steady current in Mori's sosaku-hanga output alongside his more theatrical scenes of warriors, festivals, and folk legend, and reflect his attention to the small accessories of Edo material culture.