橋口五葉
(Goyo HASHIGUCHI, 1880-1921) 6park.com
Woman
Holding a Hand Towel (手拭持てる女, Tenugui moteru Onna). Japanese
Woodblock Print. Mica background (雲母摺).  6park.com
Image
was created in Oct, 1920 (大正九年十月; Oct., Taisho 9)
and the original blocks and impression were completed in 1921. The original
blocks were destroyed in the Great Kantō earthquake in 1923.  6park.com
This is a
posthumous edition the making of which was sanctioned by Goyo's heirs and
published by Tanseisha (丹青社) using the same standards of Goyo's original.
Completed in 1981. 6park.com
Supervisor:
Muneshige Narasaki (楢崎宗重); carver:  Sadao Uetani (植谷貞雄);
printer: Mitsuo Hashizume (橋詰光男).  6park.com
The bust portrait is thought to depict
Hisae, a geisha who worked in the Shinbashi District (新橋),
Tokyo. Her dark grey kimono is decorated with motifs of butterflies and
scattered blossoms. She lightly holds a towel to her face, revealing her stone
inset ring. 6park.com
A tenugui (手拭い),
is a traditional Japanese hand towel made from cotton. It dates back to the
Heian period or earlier. By the Edo period, tenugui became what they are today;
about 14 by 35 inches in size, plain woven, and almost always dyed with plain
color or some pattern. The long sides are finished with a selvage, while the
short sides are left unfinished to allow fraying. 6park.com
A tenugui may be used as a flannel
(washcloth) or dishcloth. They are often used as souvenirs, headbands,
decorations, or for wrapping bottles and similar items. Towels made from terry
cloth have largely replaced tenugui in household use. However, tenugui are still
popular as souvenirs, decorations, and as a head covering in kendo, where it
functions as a sweatband and provides extra padding beneath the headgear (men). 6park.com