Description:
vertical koban; nishiki-e; bijinga; meisho-e
Label Text:
This print is signed "ōju Kunisada ga" ('drawn by Kunisada by order') at middle-right, with the print series title and location of Ryōgoku identified in the red cartouche at top-right. The figure is identified as a teahouse serving girl in the text at middle-left.
This sheet is part of a series of eight known designs; it is possible that there are an additional four designs that have yet to be identified, as a series of twelve sheets, to correspond with the twelve months, would not have been uncommon. This sheet and the other seven from the series are in the Kupferstich-Kabinett, Staatliche Kunstasammlungen, Dresden (acc. no. 1993-39–1993-46). While this sheet does not bear the mark of the censor or that of the publisher, other designs from the series are sealed, implying that the panels were printed on a larger sheet before being inspected, approved, sealed, and then finally separated. The entire series is characterized by the elaborate designs of the backgrounds and of the kimonos of the beauties. In this impression, the stalls and merchants of Ryōgoku are densely crowded in the background and the teahouse girl's kimonos include designs of stripes, cherry blossoms over "cracked ice," and Buddhist swastikas, while her obi is covered with golden bats.
This series is reproduced in Izzard, Sebastian, with J. Thomas Rimer, John T. Carpenter, et al., 'Kunisada's World,' (New York : Japan Society, in collaboration with Ukiyo-e Society of America, 1993): p. 92–6, fig. 36/1–36/8. This design is fig. 36/2.
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=AC+2005.338 |
