Female Entertainer with a Koto
Painting by Utagawa Toyoharu Japanese
Inscription by Shokusanjin (Ōta Nanpo) Japanese
Not on view
A high ranking courtesan in a striking black outer robe with a peacock motif over a multicolored undergarment stands before a koto (thirteen stringed zither). Her obi sash is tied in front of her robes rather than behind, the usual practice for courtesans.
Utagawa Toyoharu, founder of the Utagawa school of Ukiyo e, produced both finely executed paintings—as seen here—and designs for prints. Shokusanjin, one of the foremost literary arbiters of his era, inscribed the poem to the left of the figure some years after the painting was made. The witty verse is full of clever wordplay and references to centuries old classical literature and the Shinto “patron deity” of the pleasure quarters.
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