Whose Sleeves?

Unknown artist, early 17th century

Download2765 × 1172 px View on a wall Edit

Medium: Six-panel folding screen, ink, color, and gold on gilded paper
Size: 60 11/16 × 141 1/8 in. (154.15 × 358.46 cm) (image); 67 1/4 × 146 1/2 in. (170.82 × 372.11 cm)
Culture: Japan, Edo period (1603–1868)
Museum: Minneapolis Institute of Art
Rights: Public Domain Mark

Stylish kimono are draped casually over a deluxe pair of black lacquer stands, both adorned with gold makie designs and fittings. A red and gold amulet case hangs from the central case, while a koto (a musical instrument) rests on the floor. Such items represent the accoutrements of a fashionable prostitute, the kind who often appear in ukiyo-e paintings and prints. In her absence, we are asked to conjure up her beautiful visage ourselves. In the modern period such provocative paintings of women’s garments on display came to be called Tagasode, or “Whose Sleeves?”—a classical poetic device whereby the perfume arising from the sweep of a kimono’s sleeves evokes the image of its owner.

Text: Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia), CC BY 4.0.