Courtesan Tokaeri of Matsubaya with Attendants and New Year's Decorations (Kadokazari no Matsubaya uchi Tokaeri), fourth from the series Views of the Nakanochō for the Hisakata Poetry Club (Hisakataya Nakanochō no yon), with poems by Fukusaitei Shimemaru c. 1825

Editor: This print, "Courtesan Tokaeri of Matsubaya with Attendants and New Year's Decorations" by Yashima Gakutei, features a richly dressed woman and her attendants. I'm really struck by the textile patterns and the way the pine branches frame the scene. What can you tell me about how it was made? Curator: The print's power lies in its materiality. Consider the woodblock printing process: the labor, the specific pigments chosen, the paper itself. This wasn’t just art; it was a commodity, reflective of the social context and consumption patterns of its time. How do these material choices reinforce or challenge traditional hierarchies between art and craft? Editor: So, the craft in the printing elevates it beyond just an image? Curator: Precisely. It invites us to examine the economic and social forces that shaped its production and reception. Were there workshop hierarchies involved in its creation? Editor: That's given me a whole new way to appreciate prints! Curator: Indeed. It's about seeing art as embedded within a network of material processes and social relations.