Matching Shells (Kai-awase), “Kisen Hōshi,” from the series Modern Parodies of the Six Poetic Immortals (Yatsushi rokkasen: Kisen Hōshi)
Chōbunsai Eishi Japanese
Not on view
This image captures the vogue for half-length portraits of beauties that became a trademark of Chōbunsai Eishi’s contemporary, Kitagawa Utamaro (ca. 1753–1806). In accordance with the series title, it employs the parodic device by which figures of the past are depicted in contemporary guise, sometimes as a person of lower status or a different gender. Here, the Heian-period monk-poet Kisen Hōshi is represented by a courtesan holding a shell decorated with a painting that recalls Chapter 45 of The Tale of Genji, “The Divine Princess at Uji Bridge.” In that episode, Kaoru, Genji’s supposed son, visits Princess Ōigimi in Uji.
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