The Courtesans Somenosuke and Kisegawa of the Matsubaya, from the series A Mirror of Courtesans of the Pleasure Quarters by Kitagawa Utamaro, c. 1797, depicting two women in elaborate hairstyles and garments in profile and three-quarter view

asian art, beauty culture, bijin-ga, bust portrait, close-up portrait, commercial art, companion figures, courtesans, cultural artifact, decorative garment, domestic scene, edo period, elaborate hair ornament, elegant pose, entertainment, fashion and costume, female portrait, feminine ideal, gesture and pose, hairstyle, historical portrait, identity and status, interior setting, intimate scene, japanese aesthetics, japanese culture, japanese women, kabuki, kitagawa utamaro, luxury goods, occupational portrait, ornamental pins, ornamentation, paired portrait, period costume, pleasure quarters, populist art, portrait, refined beauty, refined dress, silk fabric, social documentation, social hierarchy, theatrical makeup, traditional dress, traditional garment, ukiyo-e, utamaro, visual narrative, woman artist subject, Objects and still life,