‘Courtesan Hanazuma of the Hyogoya’ from ‘Five Beauties Rivaling Each Other in Charm’ series by Utamaro.

The ‘Kewari’（毛割） technique is fully applied to the woman’s hairlines making the beauty so natural and attractive. Also the ‘Toshi-ge’（通し毛）technique is used to produce her tousled hair on her temple. Those immaculately carved delicate lines enhance her allure.

The rebus (puzzle image) on the upper left is referencing the courtesan's name: The hairstyle ‘Hyogo-mage’ and ‘arrow (Ya)’ indicate the name of the house (Hyogoya). The ‘flower (Hana)’and ‘pine leaves (Matsu)’ indicate the name of the courtesan (Hanazuma). The pine branch has been depicted upside-down, so instead of reading 'matsu', this is reversed to 'zuma')

The letter she is reading seems to be a romantic missive, and includes references from Utamaro himself.

Any comment is welcome! (S.I.)