Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Japan, Room 45, The Toshiba Gallery

Beautiful Tree

Woodblock Print
1847-52 (published)
Artist/Maker
Utagawa Hiroshige (designer)
Place of origin
Edo (published)
Japan (made)

Pap, Japan, prints

Beautiful Tree, from the series Money Trees for Virtuous Women, by Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858), Edo (Tokyo), 1847-52


Object details
Categories
Prints
Make-Up
Object type
Woodblock print
Additional titleMoney Trees for Virtuous Women (series title)
Materials and techniques
Colour print from woodblocks
Printing
Woodcutting
Brief description
Pap, Japan, prints



Beautiful Tree, from the series Money Trees for Virtuous Women, by Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858), Edo (Tokyo), 1847-52
Marks and inscriptions
  • Utsukushigi (Picture title)
  • Fukutoku kane no naru ki (Series title)
  • Hiroshige ga (Signature)
Gallery label
During the Edo period (1615–1868), pictures of beautiful women carefully putting on their make-up were in high demand. Here a young woman in a yukata, an informal cotton garment, applies white powder to her face. Flawless pale skin was considered an essential part of female beauty. The red porcelain cup on the floor contains beni rouge, which the woman would have used to colour her lips.(31/5/2022)
Object history
Purchased from S. M. Franck & Co., accessioned in 1886. This acquisition information reflects that found in the Asia Department registers, as part of a 2022 provenance research project.
Collection
East Asia Collection
Accession number
E.4491A-1886

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Record createdJune 25, 2009
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O409825/beautiful-tree-woodblock-print-utagawa-hiroshige/
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