Lot Essay
According to Asano Shugo and Timothy Clark, the lengthy inscription explains that this woman, a slovenly good-for-nothing, has just awakened and is cleaning her teeth and gargling. She has ignored the advice of others and shows no inclination to work at something she enjoys. Born with a good nature, it is the fault of her parents that they did not bring her up teaching her what she should do. (See Asano Shugo and Timothy Clark, The Passionate Art of Kitagawa Utamaro, exh. cat. [London and Tokyo: British Museum Press and Asahi Shimbun, 1995], text vol. p. 230).