Courtesans of Kado Daikokuya, from the book "Mirror of Beautiful Women of the Pleasure Quarters (Seiro bijin awase sugata kagami)," vol. 2 1776

This print by Kitao Shigemasa, part of a book titled "Mirror of Beautiful Women of the Pleasure Quarters," was created using woodblock printing, a painstaking process involving carving an image into wood, applying ink, and pressing it onto paper. Note how the material quality of the print, the thinness of the paper and the flatness of the image, influences its appearance. This aesthetic is intimately tied to the division of labor inherent in the production of ukiyo-e prints. Shigemasa would have designed the image, but skilled block cutters and printers were responsible for the final product. The texture, weight, and color all stem from this collaborative process, where the artist's vision is mediated through the hands of artisans. The social significance of the work lies in its depiction of courtesans, figures caught in a complex web of labor, politics, and consumption, their beauty commodified through the printmaking process itself. Understanding the materials, the making, and the context allows us to appreciate the full meaning of this artwork. It challenges traditional distinctions between art and craft, inviting us to consider the many hands involved in its creation.