Description:
vertical ōban; nishiki-e; bijinga
Label Text:
This print is signed at lower-right "Gototei Kunisada ga" ('drawn by Gototei Kunisada'). Immediately beneath the signature are the circular kiwame seal of the censor and the mark of publisher Yamaguchiya Tōbei of the firm Kinkōdō, a stylized version of the katakana syllable "to." The series title is printed in black to the left of the central figure, while the title of this sheet appears in the small interior vignette at upper-left.
In this series, Kunisada depicts female courtesans, who would have worked as servers and entertainers at feasts, in moments of behind-the-scenes repose. Here, the courtesan, seemingly weary, waits with a tray, the toothpick in her teeth perhaps signaling the end of the party or a lull in activity. The ostensible subjects of the series — the restaurants themselves — appear only in the small vignettes, which the artist wittily employs as cartouches. The title of the series also contains within it some humorous puns. For example, "zukushi" can mean an assortment or selection but can also be used in the context of a food to mean "a serving." Thus the title could also be translated as "A Serving of Renowned Restaurants of the Present Day."
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=AC+2005.334 |
