A Peddler of Colored Cloth (fukusa)
c. 1724
Medium
Hand-colored woodblock print; hosoban, urushi-e
Dimensions
32.1 × 14.5 cm (12 9/16 × 5 11/16 in.)
Classification
woodblock print
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
19435
Art Historical Context
This elegant woodblock print, "A Peddler of Colored Cloth (fukusa)," was created around 1724 by Torii Kiyotomo. At just 32.1 × 14.5 cm, the narrow hosoban format was well suited to intimate scenes of daily life. Executed in the urushi-e technique, the image combines hand-applied color with a glossy black ink mixed with lacquer, producing a subtle sheen that heightens the textures of the fabrics on display. Such early eighteenth-century prints offered affordable glimpses of Edo-period commerce and material culture. Here, a traveling merchant displays bolts of vividly dyed cloth—fukusa being th...