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Geisha Girls [Street Musician Playing Shamisen, Japan]

c1900. Hand-coloured platinum photograph, annotated “L89” and titled in negative with obscured original negative annotations lower right, 28.5 x 22.4cm.

This image, depicting a woman playing a shamisen, a three-stringed lute, was printed from an inter-neg from an earlier photograph. The woman’s clothing and shoes suggest she is a street musician rather than a geisha. This occupation was often taken up by blind people. A related image appears in Ohara (ed.), Japan 100 Years Ago: Peabody Museum of Salem, Tokyo, 1983, p182.

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Item #CL173-82

Price (AUD): $1,250.00  other currencies