Description:
An oiran (high ranking courtesan), as evidenced by her obi (sash) tied in front and elaborate hairpins with a butterfly design, seated playing with a pet cat at her feet with a butterfly hairpin; bamboo design on the obi; against a pink ground with an embossed pattern of stylized cranes, emblems of the Tsurunoya poetry club, the publisher of the original series. Two poems by kyōka poets of the Kuchikiren poetry group.
Label Text:
That this beautiful woman is a courtesan is clear from the way her obi is tied in front and the many intricate pins in her hair. Gakutei was revered for privately commissioned prints like this one. The elegant kamon (crest) of cranes in the background, the luxurious robes pooling around the figure, and the poetic inscription (written by a member of the Tochigiren, the poetry group who commissioned the work) all heighten the grace and refinement of the courtesan, who is compared to a Chinese immortal.
- BB, ed., 2015
Tags:
courtesans; women; kimonos; headdresses; cats; animals; sitting; text; poetry; patterns Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=AC+2005.762 |
