Important Art Object Dancers

These paintings of graceful women, each dancing with a fan in one hand, are thought to date from the Kan’ei era (1624-44), when things were settling down, politically and socially, in the Edo period. While they are now each framed, these are assumed originally to have been mounted as a folding screen. The appeal of Dancers comes from the continuity of the dance and the detailed depiction of their clothing. The variety of designs used in their kosode is extraordinary.