Standing Courtesan
On loan to The Met
This work of art is currently on loan to the museum.In a pose often utilized by Hishikawa Moronobu and his successors, a courtesan walks with bent knees and tiny steps, perhaps making her way along an avenue of the Yoshiwara quarters, the gated pleasure district outside of Edo (present-day Tokyo). She wears a gorgeous outer robe with seashell motifs; the shells are painted with scenes and designs, a reference to the shell-matching game that had its origins in courtly circles.
Like many artists of Ukiyo-e, a genre of paintings and prints that often focused on the demimonde, Moronobu painstakingly reproduced aspects of female fashion and the latest in stylish textile patterns. He himself came from a family of textile designers, and brought this expertise to bear in his work.
Like many artists of Ukiyo-e, a genre of paintings and prints that often focused on the demimonde, Moronobu painstakingly reproduced aspects of female fashion and the latest in stylish textile patterns. He himself came from a family of textile designers, and brought this expertise to bear in his work.
Artwork Details
- 菱川師宣筆 遊女図
- Title: Standing Courtesan
- Artist: Hishikawa Moronobu 菱川師宣 (Japanese, 1618–1694)
- Period: Edo period (1615–1868)
- Date: ca. 1690
- Culture: Japan
- Medium: Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk
- Dimensions: Image: 27 × 12 1/4 in. (68.6 × 31.1 cm)
Overall with mounting: 59 3/8 × 16 7/8 in. (150.8 × 42.9 cm)
Overall with knobs: 59 3/8 × 18 1/2 in. (150.8 × 47 cm) - Classification: Paintings
- Credit Line: Lent by Fishbein-Bender Collection
- Object Number: L.2019.10.5a–d
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art