Several states exist for this print, one of which is in the Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum and which includes an inscription identifying the woman as the waitress Omina of the Mizu Teahouse, Asakusa (Asakusa chinai Mizuchaya: Omina), as well as the artist’s signature, object no. 1923.29, go to:

https://harvardartmuseums.org/art/208600

Another in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston has no signature, nor the inscription, accession no. 21.8184, go to:

https://collections.mfa.org/objects/235800

Further impressions of the same state as the current lot (with the artist’s signature but with no inscription) are in the collection of the Minneapolis Institute of Art, accession no. P.70.166, go to:

https://collections.artsmia.org/art/67844/ichikawa-monnosuke-ii-katsukawa-shuncho

And, the art institute of Chicago, reference no. 1952.364:

https://www.artic.edu/artworks/77378/the-actors-onoe-matsusuke-i-and-ichikawa-omezo-i-at-a-teahouse

Amongst catalogued impressions of this print there seems to be variation in the identification of the figures, however the standing figure can be identified as Ichikawa Monnosuke II (1743-94) or Ichikawa Omezo I (1781-1833) by the crest on his shoulder and sleeve. The seated man can also be identified by the crest on his jacket folded next to him, as Onoe Matsusuke (1744-1815). The inscription on the Minneapolis impression also identifies the woman to be the waitress Omina. Here she is depicted with a tea tray in hand, having turned to walk away from two actors, but turning her head back as though chatting with them.

The Collection of Henri Vever 

Henri Vever (1854-1942) was regarded as one of the most distinguished jewellers of his time. By the 1880s, Vever was amongst the earliest Europeans to formally collect Japanese prints. He bought extensively from Hayashi Tadamasa (1853-1906) and was a member of Les Amis de l’Art Japonais, a clique of art enthusiasts, including Claude Monet (1840-1926), who met regularly to discuss Japanese works of art. In the early 20th century, Vever had already amassed a vast collection of fine prints numbering in the thousands. His collection became a focal point for scholars such as von Seidlitz, Migeon, and Lemoisne, who almost exclusively used his collection for their research. During his lifetime, Vever made several important bequests to French national collections. At the peak of World War I, Vever sold much of his collection to Matsukata Kojiro (1865-1950), which would later go on to form a significant part of the Tokyo National Museum’s collection of ukiyo-e prints.