[Performer in Bugaku-style Costume]

In the 1880s it was an almost obligatory practice among Japanese photographers to hand color both studio and landscape pictures. In Europe the practice of tinting photographs had fallen into disrepute, but because of the consummate skill of Japanese watercolorists, hand-colored albumen photographs became a minor art form of startling beauty in Japan. The process of tinting a photograph was incredibly tedious, and a master colorist could only be expected to produce two or three finished prints during a twelve-hour day.
This photograph of a woman in a bugaku-style costume was probably produced for the tourist trade. Bugaku, a traditional form of Japanese court theater that dates back to the first millenium, was performed only by men. The photographer's use of a female model suggests that he was concerned more with effect than with authenticity.

[label for Johnson XXVIII]