The Courtesan Hanaōgi of the Ōgiya Brothel in Yoshiwara (Ōgiya uchi Hanaōgi, Yoshino, Tatsuta)
Kitagawa Utamaro Japanese
Not on view
In this half-length portrait of the courtesan Hanaōgi of the Ōgiya, the subject holds a writing brush and paper. In the square shikishi (poem card) cartouche is the name of the courtesan and her attendants, Yoshino and Tatsuta. In the vertical tanzaku-shaped cartouche is a poem in praise of her:
Noserarete
miru yū gao no
Hanaōgi
hito no kokoro ni
aki no kozareba
Attracted by her
face in the evening,
like a gourd flower in autumn,
no one can ever weary
of Hanaō gi’s beauty.
[Signed] Yanagihara Mukai
—Trans. John T. Carpenter
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