- Museum number
- 1913,0501,0.283
- Description
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Painting, hanging scroll. Courtesan wearing kimonos in two layers, with one sleeve of over-kimono shrugged off and hanging down to display pattern of robe underneath; pale blue and white over-kimono, decorated with large blue chrysanthemums; with scarlet under-kimono with design of dwarf bamboo in snow. Ink and colour on paper. Signed and sealed.
[Jap.Ptg.1405] -
[Jap.Ptg.1405, image (a)] -
[Jap.Ptg.1405, image (b)] -
[Jap.Ptg.1405, image (T)] -
[Jap.Ptg.1405, image (Ta)] -
[Jap.Ptg.1405, image (V)] -
- Production date
- 1704-1716
- Dimensions
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Height: 75 centimetres
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Width: 30 centimetres
- $Inscriptions
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- Curator's comments
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Clark 1992
As so often in late seventeenth- and early eighteenth-century paintings, the courtesan wears kimonos in two layers, with one sleeve of the over-kimono shrugged off and hanging down to display the pattern of the robe underneath. Here the pale blue and white over-kimono, decorated with large blue chrysanthemums (suggesting autumn) contrasts strikingly with the scarlet under-kimono with a design of dwarf bamboo in the snow (representing winter). The whole composition is enlivened by Chikanobu's habitual use of dancing outlines -particularly on the flouncing 'obi' - which accord well with the brilliant colouring in high-quality pigments. The face has the same sweetly smiling expression as is found in all works by this master.
Literature:
'Kokka', 42, 1893, colour woodblock facsimile facing p. 114.
Morrison, Arthur. 'The Painters of Japan'. Vol. 2, London, 1911, p. 31.
'(Hizo) Ukiyo-e taikan' ('Ukiyo-e Masterpieces in European Collections'), ed. Narazaki Muneshige. Vol. 1, Tokyo, Kodansha, 1987, no. 103.
Smith, Lawrence, 'Japanese Art: Masterpieces in the British Museum', with Victor Harris and Timothy Clark. London, British Museum Publications, 1990, no. 192.
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Asahi 1996
17世紀後期から18世紀初期の肉筆画でしばしば使われる図様だが、遊女が着物を2枚重ねて身につけ、表着の片袖を抜いて落とし、間着の模様を見せている。ここでは薄い青と白い地に大きな青の菊（秋を示す）模様の表着が、雪中竹（冬を示す）を描いた赤い間着と強い対照をなしている。全体の構図は、親信特有の踊るような線－特に帯の翻る表現―によって生気を与えられている。この線とよく調和しているのが、良質の鮮やかな絵具である。顔には彼の全ての作品に共通する愛嬌のある微笑を浮かべている。
（増渕鏡子（福島県立美術館））
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Smith et al 1990
From the so-called 'Kambun beauties' (no. 190) of the 1660s onwards, one of the commonest subjects for Ukiyo-e painters was the single standing figure of a beautiful woman - often a courtesan - set against a plain or very simple background. The long, vertical hanging-scroll format had always been ideally suited to single standing figures; but artists of earlier periods had mostly limited themselves to figures of religious patriarchs, Buddhist deities, or Chinese sages.
Chikanobu was one of a number of painters working contemporary with, and to a certain degree influenced by, the major Kaigetsudo school during the early decades of the eighteenth century. Chikanobu's women have certain immediately recognisable characteristics: hair combed straight back from a sweetly smiling face with a small upturned mouth, and a rhythmical, dancing line describing the outlines of the drapery.
Here the courtesan is shown wearing an over-kimono decorated with bold chrysanthemums, a seasonal flower of autumn, and a sash of brown and blue swirls tied in front in an ostentatious bow. This was the traditional signal of a prostitute. The left sleeve of the over-kimono has been thrown off to display the bright red kimono patterned with snow-covered dwarf bamboo leaves representing winter.
- Location
- Not on display
- Acquisition date
- 1913
- Acquisition notes
- The collection of Japanese and Chinese paintings belonging to Arthur Morrison was purchased by Sir William Gwynne-Evans, who presented it to the British Museum in 1913.
- Department
- Asia
- Registration number
- 1913,0501,0.283
- Additional IDs
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Asia painting number: Jap.Ptg.1405 (Japanese Painting Number)
