Near perfect antique condition. There are no holes or significant physical damage, and the original colors remain exceptionally vivid with sharp, clearly defined woodblock lines throughout. The paper has developed some uniform darkening from age, but this does not detract from the composition or its fine details.
Published in 1880 (Meiji 13), this original three-sheet nishiki-e woodblock print is Onna Reishiki no Zu (女礼式之図), or Illustration of Women's Etiquette, by Utagawa Kuniteru II (二代目歌川国輝). The artist signs the work 旭亭国輝画 (Kyokutei Kuniteru ga).
The triptych depicts six elegantly dressed women demonstrating the accomplishments, education, and proper activities associated with cultivated women during the Meiji period. Scenes include tea preparation, ikebana flower arranging, reading and study, sewing or textile work, and the traditional board game go.
Beyond its decorative appeal, the print provides a detailed visual record of women's education and domestic culture in early Meiji Japan. Clothing, hairstyles, furnishings, tea utensils, books, textiles, and other household objects are carefully represented throughout the three-sheet composition.
The red publication cartouche explicitly records Meiji 13 (1880) and identifies Fukuda Kumajirō (福田熊次郎) as publisher, providing a precise contemporary date for the work.
Prints devoted to women's etiquette and accomplishments became an established Meiji genre, reflecting contemporary ideas surrounding refinement, education, domestic management, and proper social behavior. Traditional accomplishments remained prominent even as Japanese society underwent rapid modernization.
Hand-carved and hand-printed in multiple colors on traditional Japanese paper, this exceptionally well-preserved triptych combines bijin-ga, social history, and Meiji-period educational culture within a single panoramic composition.
