APPEARING INQUISITIVE (1888): Japanese Greeting Card

Text on the reverse side:

Titled “Behaviour of a Maid of the Tenpo Era”. A maid in the service of a samurai family (”okosho”), the young woman would have undertaken this role as part of her education and in learning good manners. Captured here is a moment of her youthful curiosity. From the series, 32 Aspects of Customs and Manners by the woodblock print master Yoshitoshi (1839-1892).