Ise no Taifu

This month's print, the eighth this year, depicts Ise no Taifu, a lady-in-waiting at the Heian court. She was a contemporary of Murasaki Shikibu, the famous author of the 'Genji Monogatari', who we will meet later in this series.

I have made a few changes in this print from the design as originally published. I think that back in 1775 when the book was being prepared, the publisher wanted to try and keep the production costs down. It was unusual for a book to contain as many pages as this one, and his costs must have been quite high. One easy way for him to 'hold the line' would have been to limit the use of multiple colours; fewer colours in the final prints meant that fewer blocks had to be purchased and carved, and it also made the printing work go faster. Presumably there was constant friction between the artist and the man paying the bills, one calling for more colours (more spending!), and the other for simpler designs, and in this particular print - Shunsho lost! The original is done with only two colours, a red block for both the lower clothing and the calligraphy tray, and a yellow block for the upper clothing and another part of the tray. That's all. I feel that although a simplification like that may have been acceptable for an image 'buried' in the middle of a 100 page book, it is inadequate for an image presen-ted as a single sheet print. As I am my own publisher, there is no need for arguments (I don't need to pay carvers or printers!) so I decided to add a few new blocks - a pink under-kimono, a tone for the writing paper, and different colours for the tray. I refrained from adding a skin tone, as none of the women in Shunsho's series are depicted this way, and I am told that women of that time attempted to keep their skin as pale as possible anyway, this being considered more attractive (and presumably showing that they didn't have to work in the fields, etc).

I think that these 'new' colours increase the attractive-ness of this print considerably, and I hope that you don't mind this type of change. I think these additions are completely within the spirit of the original, and although most of the prints are just fine in the original edition, I may find as I continue this project, that a few more of them could use a bit of 'help'.

I hope you enjoy this print. Coming up next month, Kotai Gogu no Daibu Shunzei.