The Courtesan Nishikigi of the Yotsumeya Brothel, from the series “A Pattern Book of the Year’s First Designs, Fresh as Spring Herbs” (“Hinagata wakana hatsu moyō”)
Koryūsai, who came from an impoverished samurai family, renounced his rank to settle as an artist in Edo. His early work reflected Harunobu's wistful and romantically idealized figures. Later in his career he made a bold series of prints depicting the lavish spring fashions of the demimonde.
Nishikigi wears a striking black outer robe decorated with flowering paulownia. Her kosode is patterned with a subtle, resist-dyed bamboo and is tied with a large geometric brocade sash, or obi. Her attendants, or kamuro, in the same costume and pose, wear faded purple robes decorated with hagi, or bush clover, on trellises. The motif of flowers growing on a trellis was a visual reference to the women of the Yoshiwara, who sat behind barred windows displaying themselves to potential customers.
Nishikigi wears a striking black outer robe decorated with flowering paulownia. Her kosode is patterned with a subtle, resist-dyed bamboo and is tied with a large geometric brocade sash, or obi. Her attendants, or kamuro, in the same costume and pose, wear faded purple robes decorated with hagi, or bush clover, on trellises. The motif of flowers growing on a trellis was a visual reference to the women of the Yoshiwara, who sat behind barred windows displaying themselves to potential customers.
Artwork Details
- 『雛形若菜初模様 四ツ目屋内 にしき木』
- Title: The Courtesan Nishikigi of the Yotsumeya Brothel, from the series “A Pattern Book of the Year’s First Designs, Fresh as Spring Herbs” (“Hinagata wakana hatsu moyō”)
- Artist: Isoda Koryūsai (Japanese, 1735–ca. 1790)
- Period: Edo period (1615–1868)
- Date: 1776
- Culture: Japan
- Medium: Woodblock print; ink and color on paper
- Dimensions: 14 7/8 x 10 1/8 in. (37.8 x 25.7 cm)
- Classification: Prints
- Credit Line: The Howard Mansfield Collection, Purchase, Rogers Fund, 1936
- Object Number: JP2627
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art
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