hanging scroll;
painting
- Museum number
- 1913,0501,0.366
- Description
-
Painting, hanging scroll. Courtesan seated with one knee raised. Ink and colour on paper.
- Production date
- 1661-1688
- Dimensions
-
Height: 37.10 centimetres
-
Width: 22.20 centimetres
- Curator's comments
-
Clark 1992
A courtesan is seated with one knee raised, wearing a white kimono decorated with large tie-dyed stars in red and white, intertwined with leaf tendrils in black. Her hair is parted in the middle and then dressed at the back in a form of the 'Shimada' style in which the long tresses are bent back towards the rear of the head and tied in place using paper tapes. This fashion did not become widespread among women until the 1680s, after which it remained the dominant style (with many variations) for the rest of the Edo period. Thus, although this work shows many stylistic features generally associated with paintings of beauties of the Kambun era (1661-73; see no. 3) - the single figure isolated against a plain background and set back from the picture plane; the cool, somewhat impassive expression; the extensive use of tie-dyed dots in the costume - the hairstyle may imply a somewhat later date of execution. This would indicate that an archaic 'Kambun beauty' style lingered on in the work of certain artists even after Moronobu's revolutionary manner of painting women had taken Edo by storm (nos 6-9).
-
Asahi 1996
赤と白の絞り模様と黒の蔓草文の着物を身につけた遊女が片膝を立てて座っている。遊女の髪は真中で分けられ、長い後髪を束ねて紙紐でまとめる「島田」髷に結い上げられている。この髪型は1680年代から一般的になり、様々に変化しながら江戸時代の終わりまで続くのだが、それ以前には見られないものである。本作品は寛文年間の美人図と比較されることが多い。寛文美人図は遊女が無地の背景に一人立って画面から切り離され、抑えられた静かな表情で総絞りの衣装をつけているのが特色である。しかし本作品の遊女の髪型は、もっと時代の下りることを示唆している。師宣の革新的な女性表現（Nos.9-11）が江戸で一世を風靡した後も、一部の絵師たちの間に古い「寛文美人」の様式が残っていたことを示すものであろう。
（増渕鏡子（福島県立美術館））
- Location
- Not on display
- Exhibition history
-
Exhibited:
2008 Jun-Oct 10, BM Japanese Galleries, 'Japan from Prehistory to the Present'
2011 Oct – 2012 Feb, BM Japanese Galleries, ‘Japan from Prehistory to the Present’
- 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
- 1913,0501,0.366
- Additional IDs
-
Asia painting number: Jap.Ptg.1364 (Japanese Painting Number)
