Kiso-hajime, by Keisai Eisen

An image of Kiso-hajime. Eisen, Keisai (Japanese,1790-1848). Woodcut, Surimono. Colour print from woodblocks with metallic pigments, 1824. Ukiyo-e. Bunsei Era. Notes: Early in the morning a maid is preparing her master's new formal wear and accessories which are to be worn for the first time on one of the first three days of the New Year. To wish the family good luck for the New Year, the room is decorated with lucky symbols such as a set of rice-cake offerings placed in the tokonoma, and a screen painting of an old pine tree, symbol of longevity. The design on the maid’s kimono and sash and the monkey behind the pine tree indicate that this print was commissioned by the Manji-ren poetry group for the Year of the Monkey.

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Kiso-hajime. Eisen, Keisai (Japanese,1790-1848). Woodcut, Surimono. Colour print from woodblocks with metallic pigments, 1824. Ukiyo-e. Bunsei Era. Notes: Early in the morning a maid is preparing her master's new formal wear and accessories which are to be worn for the first time on one of the first three days of the New Year. To wish the family good luck for the New Year, the room is decorated with lucky symbols such as a set of rice-cake offerings placed in the tokonoma, and a screen painting of an old pine tree, symbol of longevity. The design on the maid’s kimono and sash and the monkey behind the pine tree indicate that this print was commissioned by the Manji-ren poetry group for the Year of the Monkey.

Image data

Accession Number: P.239-1937
Photograph copyright © The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge
Photographer name: Michael Jones
Image height: 1024 pixels
Image width: 916 pixels
Processed with: Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5.6 (Macintosh)
Filesize: 227.07kB

Key words

19th Century 458392 Bunsei Era Date Department Fitz_PDP Ikeda Eisen Interior/Exterior Japanese Keisai Eisen Medium Nationalities New Year Object Type Other Keywords Workflow _WF_AdOK _WF_KWD _WF_OPACtd clothes clothing costume fashion female garments interior kimono maids maidservant obi print sash screen surimono ukiyo-e woman woodblock woodcut Artist/Maker

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            The Fitzwilliam Museum (2025)
            "Kiso-hajime, by Keisai Eisen"
            Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/image/media-1534566537 Accessed: 2025-12-12 16:37:47

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            {{cite web|url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/image/media-1534566537
            |title=Kiso-hajime, by Keisai Eisen
            |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2025-12-12 16:37:47|publisher=The
            University of Cambridge}}

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