Niwaka no ni geisha (Two geisha at the Niwaka festival)

This is from the same series of eight known designs depicting half-length portraits of two figures, as "Parody of Ushiwakamaru and Princess Joruri" (Lot 72). In the present design, two geisha (thought to be called Haru and Kume - indicated by the characters on their kimono) are shown at the Niwaka festival. See Shugo Asano and Timothy Clark,The Passionate Art of Kitagawa Utamaro, Exhibition Catalogue, (British Museum, London, 1995), text for cat. no. 263, p. 182.