A Youthful Male Performer (Gakudoji) Dressed as a Woman, with Attendant, from the series “Pictures of People from the Ryūkyū Islands” (Ryūkyūjin no zu)
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.In early modern times, it was customary for wealthy families in the Ryūkyū Kingdom (present-day Okinawa) to select young sons to train in various arts such as painting, calligraphy, dance, and music. They were also expected to be available to dress as women and perform dances or play musical instruments in official processions (sankin kōtai) to the military capital of Edo, on the main island of Japan. Referred to as gakudoji (boy performers), they often appear in handscrolls depicting the elaborate retinues of feudal lords, sometimes mounted on elaborately saddled horses, or with an older male attendant holding a parasol, as here. Toyohiro designed several other prints on this theme.
Artwork Details
- 「琉球人之圖」 楽童子
- Title: A Youthful Male Performer (Gakudoji) Dressed as a Woman, with Attendant, from the series “Pictures of People from the Ryūkyū Islands” (Ryūkyūjin no zu)
- Artist: Utagawa Toyohiro (Japanese, 1763–1828)
- Period: Edo period (1615–1868)
- Date: ca. 1796
- Culture: Japan
- Medium: Woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper; vertical ōban
- Dimensions: Image: 14 5/8 × 9 7/8 in. (37.1 × 25.1 cm)
- Classification: Prints
- Credit Line: Lent by Lee E. Dirks
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art