Earth for the Potted Plant 1878

'Earth for the Potted Plant’ was made by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi, a printmaker who lived through the end of the Edo period into the Meiji era. Yoshitoshi lived in a time of immense social and political change as Japan opened up to the West. The woman depicted is Takakura Hisako, a court lady in the Imperial Palace, associated with the earth element of the seven曜star series. In Japanese culture, the role of women, especially within the Imperial Court, was very controlled. The art of printmaking was deeply embedded in the popular culture of the Edo period. Here, Hisako is portrayed not as a passive figure, but with a complex, nuanced expression. The potted plant may symbolize her constrained world within the court. Does the beauty of the artwork speak to you of personal confinement or resilience?