Konami of the Kurahashiya in the Front Group of Musicians (Saki-bayashi), from the series Costume Parade of the Shinmachi Quarter in Osaka (Ōsaka Shinmachi nerimono)
The courtesan Konami of the Kurahashiya Brothel in Osaka has draped a feather cloak over her shoulders and dons a glittering floral crown. She holds a pair of drumsticks, for she is serving as a percussionist on a float that carries the first group of musicians (saki-bayashi) leading a costume parade in the Shinmachi licensed quarter. Such parades were held each year in the late summer in the early nineteenth century. Her garb recalls the legend of Hagoromo, a folktale also turned into a Noh play, that relates the story of a fisherman who finds the magical feather cloak of a tennin (an angel-like celestial spirit) hanging on the bough of a tree and requests her to dance for him before he returns it.
Artwork Details
- 「大坂新町ねりもの 先はやし くらはしや 小なみ」
- Title: Konami of the Kurahashiya in the Front Group of Musicians (Saki-bayashi), from the series Costume Parade of the Shinmachi Quarter in Osaka (Ōsaka Shinmachi nerimono)
- Artist: Yanagawa Shigenobu 柳川重信 (Japanese, 1787–1832)
- Period: Edo period (1615–1868)
- Date: 1822
- Culture: Japan
- Medium: Woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper; vertical ōban
- Dimensions: Image: 14 3/4 × 9 5/8 in. (37.5 × 24.4 cm)
- Classification: Prints
- Credit Line: Purchase, Friends of Asian Art Gifts, 2020
- Object Number: 2020.308
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art
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