Woman and child holding a kimono
Details
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Title
Woman and child holding a kimono
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Series
Fashionable Sleeves for the Three Evening Poems
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Artist/maker
Isoda Koryūsai (1735 - 1790) (designer)Jakuren hōshi (1139 - 1202) (author) -
Associated place
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Date
1764 - 1770 -
Material and technique
woodblock, printed with water-based vegetable pigments
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Material index
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Technique index
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Object type
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Dimensions
mount 40.5 x 27.8 cm (height x width)
sheet 26 x 19.5 cm (height x width)
print 25.3 x 18.8 cm (height x width) -
No. of items
1
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Credit line
Presented by Mrs E. M. Allan and Mr and Mrs H. N. Spalding from the Herbert H. Jennings Collection, 1952.
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Museum location
Museum department
Eastern Art
Accession no.
EAX.4044
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Catalogue text
The precise dates of Isoda Koryūsai are unknown but he was active as an artist from the end of the Hōreki (1751-64) to the beginning of the Kansei (1789-1801) periods. Koryūsai worked in the style of Suzuki Harunobu, using the name Suzuki Haruhiro, until Harunobu’s death in 1770. Koryūsai then created his own style and became one of the most popular artists for prints of beauties during the Anei period (1772-81), helping to establish the ōban size [see EAX.3954] print. He also excelled particularly in the hashira-e (pillar print), which was designed for hanging on interior pillars of Japanese houses. He later received the honorific title, 'Hokkyō', in recognition of his contribution to the art world.
The use of pale colours and the depiction of the lady and child is reminiscent of the Harunobu style. The woman is holding a new kimono, as if showing it to an invisible viewer, helped by the child; one of the sanseki no uta (the three poems on autumn evenings) by the Monk Jakuren (Fujiwara no Sadanaga) is inscribed on the sleeve.
The colours have faded and the colour of the sleeve was probably originally a greyish-purple.
Glossary of terms
kimono
vegetable pigments
Reference URL
