Woman with Battledore and Shuttlecock

Woman with Battledore and Shuttlecock

Torii Kiyotomo

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

A gorgeously arrayed woman with a battledore (hanaoki) tucked under her arm fiddles with a feather shuttlecock used in the New Year’s game of hanetsuki, similar to the Western game of badminton. The identity of the artist of this bold ukiyo-e painting requires further investigation. Though there was a print artist of the Torii school who used the art name Kiyotomo, who was active in the early eighteenth century and known for his kabuki actor compositions, this would appear to be a different artist. Since the coiffure, sartorial choices, and overall style more closely resembles those of later artists of the Torii school, such as Kiyomine (1786–1868), we can assume that this is one of the ukiyo-e artists who emerged in the generation after Torii Kiyonaga (1752–1815), renowned as one of the great portraitists of female beauty of the late Edo period.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Woman with Battledore and ShuttlecockWoman with Battledore and ShuttlecockWoman with Battledore and ShuttlecockWoman with Battledore and ShuttlecockWoman with Battledore and Shuttlecock

The Met's collection of Asian art—more than 35,000 objects, ranging in date from the third millennium B.C. to the twenty-first century—is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world. Each of the many civilizations of Asia is represented by outstanding works, providing an unrivaled experience of the artistic traditions of nearly half the world.