"Hanaogi of the Gomeiro," from the series Comparing the Charms of Beauties (Bijin kiryo kurabe: Gomeiro Hanaogi). Artist: Kitagawa Utamaro (Japanese, ca. 1754-1806). Culture: Japan. Dimensions: H. 14 15/16 in. (37.9 cm); W. 9 11/16 in. (24.6 cm). Date: 1794-95.Characterizations of women were Utamaro's great contribution to Japanese art. In the large head-portraits he executed, he used the hands and eyes of a sitter to indicate temperament. In this portrait of an unidentified courtesan, we can tell much about the woman's character. Her head juts forward in a determined way, revealing a long and well-groomed neck. Her hair is fashionably dressed with seven pins, her face plump, with resolute eyes set straight ahead. But it is perhaps her hands, tucked beneath the commanding obi, that reveal most--by not being visible. Courtesans announced their profession by tying the obi in front. When sumptuary laws were passed to control the lavishness of clothes, obi were not mentioned, and they be