Returning Sails of the Towel Rack (Tenugui-kake no kihan), from the series "Eight Views of the Parlor (Zashiki hakkei)" c. 1766

Suzuki Harunobu’s “Returning Sails of the Towel Rack,” made in Japan around 1765, uses woodblock print to depict a scene of everyday life, elevated through allusion to classical Chinese painting. Part of a series titled “Eight Views of the Parlor,” this work recasts traditional landscape themes within the intimate setting of a domestic interior. The print plays with the concept of “mitate,” or parody, by associating the mundane task of laundry with the grandeur of maritime return. Here, the artist comments on the social structures of his time, elevating the status of women and domestic labor through association with canonical imagery. To understand such juxtapositions, the art historian consults not only the formal elements of the artwork, but also the cultural context in which it was produced. By researching the social conditions, artistic conventions, and institutional histories of Edo-period Japan, we gain insight into the ways in which art reflects and shapes society.