Seated Courtesan
Utagawa Toyoharu, Seated Courtesan, 1783, hanging scroll; ink and color on silk, Museum Purchase: Margery Hoffman Smith Fund, public domain, 84.76
This work is not currently on view.
- Title
Seated Courtesan
- Related Titles
original language: 美人画
- Artist
- Related People
calligrapher: Kitao Masanobu (Santō Kyōden) (Japanese, 1761-1816)
- Date
1783
- Period
Japan: Edo period (1615-1868)
- Medium
hanging scroll; ink and color on silk
- Dimensions (H x W x D)
scroll and painting: 58 1/2 in x 24 in; mounting: 27 in x 18 1/4 in
- Collection Area
Asian Art
- Category
Paintings
- Object Type
hanging scroll
- Culture
Japanese
- Credit Line
Museum Purchase: Margery Hoffman Smith Fund
- Accession Number
84.76
- Copyright
public domain
- Terms
Utagawa Toyoharu is known to print collectors as a master of uki-e (landscapes employing one-point perspective). This painting, a portrait of one of the famous courtesans of Edo, reveals his talent as a painter of elegant beauties. At the woman's side is a shamisen, a banjo-like instrument that was popular in Yoshiwara (the licensed brothel district) and the kabuki theater, and she appears to be perusing a songbook. The lengthy inscription is by Santō Kyōden—a leading author of comic fiction and a famous connoisseur of Edo's entertainment districts.
