Kitagawa Utamaro was well known for his close-up portraits that belonged to a genre, or category, of images called bijinga (pictures of beautiful people). This print is from a series that invites comparisons of the attractiveness of different figures. It comes from a series that assigns personality traits to women based on their physical appearance.
View the original at Cleveland Museum of Art →Article 1 states the purpose plainly: prevent trade in stolen goods, find them quickly, and speed the recovery of victims. Article 2 then defines a used article to include, in the same breath, art objects held for appreciation. Dealing in them requires a licence.
The cool part. Article 16 requires a dealer to record every transaction: the date, the item and quantity, its distinguishing features, and the address, name, occupation and age of the other party. Article 15 requires that a dealer who suspects an item is stolen report it to a police officer immediately. So the antique trade runs on a register the police may read, and a painting becomes a second-hand article the moment it has been used once.
Verify at e-Gov 法令検索 →Use it Take the ratio, not the picture. It sets a page better than a grid does.
Description source: museum curator text — not generated