Historically, uchiwa were a predominantly female accessory, men typically carrying folding fans known as ōgi (扇), suehiro (末広) or sensu (扇子).

"[3] Like ōgi-e (扇絵) folding fan prints, uchiwa-e were traditionally made from washi rice paper mounted on a wooden frame.

[8] While the earliest recorded use is in an 1829 print by Eisen,[6] Utagawa Sadahide, Hokusai,[9] Hiroshige,[10] Toyokuni II[11] and Kunisada all produced notable examples.

"[6] Given the lack of colour contrast in the monochromatic aizuri-e, late Edo artists began to experiment with techniques to increase image complexity.

Utagawa Kunisada (歌川国貞) was born in 1786 in the Honjō district of Edo (present-day Tokyo) into a wealthy family of ferry service owners.

[16] His position within the Utagawa studio afforded him access to training from the finest masters, and connections to publishers, actors, theatres and poet's associations.

[25] Critics today consider Kunisada to have been "a trendsetter... in tune with the tastes of urban society,"[17] and credit him with a "more humanized" style than his contemporaries,[26] and with bringing a sense of realism to ukiyo-e, particularly in his depiction of the female form.

[29] Ukiyo-e specialist Rupert Faulkner is particularly scathing, asserting that Kunisada's work "became noticeably coarser and somewhat clumsy, revealing a cheap and gaudy caricaturism of grotesque facial expressions and exaggerated poses.

"[30] It has been suggested that his production generally suffered "because of over-production and lowering of artistic standards,"[31] as well as possible mental or physical health issues, which led to Kunisada becoming a near-recluse in 1847.

"[32] The scene depicted on the fan is of two male bugaku dancers in full ceremonial costume, who appear to be performing a dance in lock-step with no audience in evidence.

Bugaku, made up of the characters for 'dance' (舞-bu) and 'music' or 'entertainment' (楽-gaku), joined Japanese culture from China, Korea, India and Southeast Asia in the late 8th century, as a form of dance performed at the imperial court, as well as at temples and shrines.

[33] Dancers assume stylized hand, arm and foot poses accompanied by drumming and the world's oldest surviving orchestral music, gagaku.

[23] The art-name appearing on this print, "Kōchōrō" (香蝶楼), borrows characters from his teacher's pseudonym (Shinkō) and from the name of the school's founder, Hanabusa Itchō (英一蝶).

It reads vertically from right to left and top to bottom as follows: The double circle mark below Kunisada's signature is a toshidama-in, the distinctive seal used by all generations of the Utagawa school after Toyokuni I first adopted it, for reasons unknown, in 1808 or 1809.

Synthetic blue pigment was not introduced to Japan until 1829, and it is unlikely that expensive natural indigo would be used on a medium as cheap as uchiwa-e. Kunisada's signature is flanked by two circular toshidama-in seals rather than appearing within an oblong, stylized toshidama cartouche.