Woman with Battledore and Shuttlecock - Torii Kiyotomo

A traditional Ukiyo-e hanging scroll depicting a woman with a battledore, rendered in ink and colour on silk by Torii Kiyotomo.

This hanging scroll depicts a woman engaged in the traditional New Year activity of hanetsuki, holding a shuttlecock while a battledore rests against her back. Attributed to Torii Kiyotomo, an artist associated with the Torii school of Ukiyo-e, the work reflects the stylistic conventions of the early eighteenth century. The Torii school maintained a close connection to the kabuki theatre, and this influence is visible in the bold, deliberate lines and the theatrical posture of the subject.

The woman wears a black kimono adorned with a repeating pattern of white cherry blossoms. The garment is layered, revealing flashes of red and patterned fabric at the hem and sleeves. Her hair is styled in an elaborate coiffure, typical of the period, and her expression remains composed. The artist employs a limited palette, allowing the stark contrast between the dark kimono and the pale silk background to define the figure. The battledore features a circular crest, providing a specific detail that anchors the composition.

Ukiyo-e, or pictures of the floating world, often focused on the fashions and pastimes of urban life in Edo-period Japan. This piece belongs to the bijin-ga genre, which translates to pictures of beautiful women. The focus is on the elegance of the figure and the precision of the textile patterns. The vertical format of the scroll dictates the elongated proportions of the subject, a common aesthetic choice in works of this era. The use of ink and colour on silk provides a soft, matte finish that differs from the later woodblock prints associated with the Ukiyo-e movement. This work offers a view into the aesthetic priorities of the Torii school, where line quality and balanced composition take precedence over spatial depth.