hanging scroll;
painting;
forgery
- Museum number
- 1913,0501,0.367
- Description
-
Painting, hanging scroll, forgery. Courtesan seated on bench beneath willow, biting end of letter in one corner of mouth; long lacquer box on end of bench. Ink colour and gold on silk. With authentication certificate by Kohitsu Ryonin, dated Meiji 36 [1903].
- Production date
- 19thC (?)
- Dimensions
-
Height: 34.20 centimetres
-
Width: 51.80 centimetres
- Curator's comments
- Clark 1992
A courtesan is seated on a bench beneath a willow, enjoying cooling breezes from the river. In one corner of her mouth she bites the end of a letter which had been carried in the long lacquer box on the end of the bench. Biting letters or cloths was a sign of emotional anguish, and presumably a lover has written to terminate their liaison. At least three other versions of this composition exist, one with the signature 'Furuyama Moromasa' (Narazaki & Yoshida 'Nikuhitsu ukiyo-e' 1970, BW nos 13-15). Though the style is reminiscent of Moronobu's followers, none are particularly convincing as 300-year-old works. This painting, in particular, gives every indication of being a nineteenth-century pastiche: the drapery lines are hard and unyielding, the patterns on the drapery flat, and the willow branches rudimentary.
- 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
- 1913,0501,0.367
- Additional IDs
-
Asia painting number: Jap.Ptg.1381 (Japanese Painting Number)
