Height: 275.000 mm
Width:
380.000 mm
Jack Hillier Collection
Asia JA 1979.3-5.0146 (JH 146)
Kitao Masanobu, The courtesans Hinazuru and Chōzan a coloured woodblock print
Edo (Tokyo), Japan
Edo
period, AD 1784
From the album Yoshiwara keisei shin bijin-awase jihitsu kagami ('A Contest of New Yoshiwara Courtesans with Examples of their Calligraphy')
The artist Kitao Masanobu (1761-1816) also
wrote novels under the pen-name Santō Kyōden. He established
himself as the chief guide and a leader in taste in the exclusive
world of the high-ranking
The popularity and influence of the pleasure quarters were at their height in the 1770s and 1780s. Many artists, including Harunobu, Kōryūsai, Shigemasa and Kiyonaga competed with each other in producing sumptuous tributes to the courtesans. These took the form of colour woodblock prints, illustrated books and albums.
This album,
designed by Masanobu, was published by the ambitious and energetic
publisher Tsutaya Jūsaburō. It was an attempt to surpass all
competitors. The large format is twice the size of normal
single-sheet prints, and the colour-printing is of outstanding
complexity and richness. Each print also includes
In this print, Hinazuru is shown modelling one of her fine New Year kimonos. Chōzan is seated at an elegant Chinese-style writing-table, checking her calligraphy primer and a copy of the classic Eiga monogatari ('Tales of Glory') before writing her New Year verses of greeting on the poem slips before her.
L. Smith, V. Harris and T. Clark, Japanese art: masterpieces in (London, The British Museum Press, 1990)
J. Hillier, The art of the Japanese book, (London, Philip Wilson Publishers, 1987)
L. Smith (ed.), Ukiyo-e images of unknown Japa (London, The British Museum Press, 1988/89)
Jack Hillier and Lawrence Smith, Japanese prints: 300 years of (London, The British Museum Press, 1980)
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