painting;
handscroll
- Museum number
- 1902,0606,0.25
- Description
-
Eight paintings mounted as handscroll. Scenes of Edo life:
1. Two court dance performers.
2. Procession of Yoshiwara courtesan.
3. Woman, girl and dandy in street.
4. Nobleman's daughter, maid and retainer in interior of mansion.
5. Man dancing with fans, watched by two geishas.
6. Two Yoshiwara geishas dressed for Niwaka Festival.
7. Girl dancing with fan and two geishas playing flute and shamisen.
8. Prince Mitsuuji (from parody of Tale of Genji) and maid.
Ink and slight colour on silk. Signed and annotated.
- Production date
- 1854-1868 (c.)
- Dimensions
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Height: 27.80 centimetres (c. each)
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Width: 23.40 centimetres (c. each)
- $Inscriptions
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- Curator's comments
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Clark 1992
Though mounted as a handscroll, the eight paintings are of the shape one would normally expect to find in an album. The hard, unyielding line and generally flat patterning suggest that they may have been painted in imitation of woodblock prints, and the colouring is entirely in shades of 'sumi' with a pale pink used just on areas of flesh. The figure style is derived from Kunisada's later period, when he used the name Toyokuni (III). The subjects are as follows:
1 Two 'bugaku' (court dance) performers.
2 Procession of a Yoshiwara courtesan.
3 Woman, girl and dandy in the street.
4 Nobleman's daughter, maid and retainer in the interior of a mansion.
5 Man dancing with fans, watched by two geishas.
6 Two Yoshiwara geishas dressed for the Niwaka Festival.
7 Girl dancing with fan and two geishas playing flute and 'shamisen'.
8 Prince Mitsuuji (from the parody of 'Tale of Genji') and maid.
When exhibited at the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1867, the paintings would have been examples of contemporary art and may, indeed, have been produced for this purpose to show Edo manners and customs of the time to a foreign audience. A French title written on the mount of the scroll, 'Scènes d'intérieur de Daimios', is presumably derived from the subject of painting no. 4.
Literature:
'(Hizo) Ukiyo-e taikan' ('Ukiyo-e Masterpieces in European Collections'), ed. Narazaki Muneshige. Vol. 1, Tokyo, Kodansha, 1987, BW nos 74, 75.
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Asahi 1996
現在画巻に仕立てられているが、この8図は形からいって画帖に貼られていたようである。かたくこわばった描線と平面的な図様からみて、版画をまねて描かれたものであろう。ほとんど墨だけで描かれ、肉身の部分だけ薄くピンク色をつけている。人物の様式は国定の後期、（三代）豊国と名のるころの様式からきている。各図の画題は次のとおり。
1 舞楽
2 吉原花魁道中
3 邂逅図
4 邸内姫君と女中、家臣
5 扇で芸をする男と芸者
6 俄の扮装をした吉原芸者
7 扇を持って舞う女と笛と三味線の芸者
8 光氏（偐柴田舎源氏）と侍女
慶応3年（1867）のパリ万国博覧会で展示されたときは、当世風の作品として異国の観客に当時の江戸の風習をしめそうという意図で作られたものであろう。フランス語の題が表紙の部分にあって「大名の邸内」とあるのは4番目の図からきていると思われる。
（伊藤紫織（千葉市美術館））
- Location
- Not on display
- Exhibition history
-
Exhibited at the Exposition Universelle, Paris, 1867, no. 4100.
- Associated events
- Associated Event: Niwaka Festival (painting 6)
- Associated titles
Associated Title: Tale of Genji (painting 8)
- Acquisition date
- 1902
- Department
- Asia
- Registration number
- 1902,0606,0.25
- Additional IDs
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Asia painting number: Jap.Ptg.1592 (Japanese Painting Number)
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Miscellaneous number: Anderson No. 2048 (annotation in Anderson 1886)
