illustrated book;
print
- Museum number
- 1979,0305,0.124.3
- Title
- Object: Seiro bijin awase sugata kagami 青楼美人合姿鏡 (A Mirror of Beautiful Women of the Green Houses Compared)
- Description
-
Illustrated book. Vol. 3 of three volumes. The occupations of courtesans, with verses on the four seasons written by courtesans. Colour woodblock-printed.
- Production date
- 1776
- Dimensions
-
Height: 28 centimetres
-
Width: 18.50 centimetres
- Curator's comments
-
Hillier and Smith 1980
Acknowledged as one of the outstanding illustrated books of the world. The 'Green Houses' were the great establishments of courtesans in Edo. Although some have seen Shigemasa's hand in the spring and autumn pictures and Shunsho's in the remainder, the two artists, as was often the case in collaborative works of this nature, contrived to give a surprising uniformity to the style throughout, and there is far from universal agreement on the division mentioned.
Literature:
Brown, Louise Norton, 'Block Printing and Book Illustration in Japan', London and New York, 1924, pp. 148 and 161.
Toda, Kenji, 'Descriptive Catalogue of the Japanese and Chinese Illustrated Books in the Ryerson Library of the Art Institute of Chicago', Chicago, 1931, pp. 180-1.
Sorimachi, Shigeo, 'Catalogue of Japanese Illustrated Books in the Spenser Collection of the New York Public Library', New York, 1968, no. 439.
-
Smith 1988
Acknowledged as one of the outstanding illustrated books of the world. The 'Green Houses' were the great establishments of courtesans in Edo. The seasons are represented by flowers at the beginning of each volume - spring and summer in volume 1, autumn and winter in volume 2. Volume 3 has verses on the four seasons written by the courtesans depicted in the prints.
- Location
- Not on display
- Exhibition history
-
Exhibited:
2007 Jun 13-Oct 7, BM Japanese Galleries, 'Japan from Prehistory to the Present'
- Acquisition date
- 1979
- Department
- Asia
- Registration number
- 1979,0305,0.124.3
- Additional IDs
-
Previous owner/ex-collection number: JH.124 (Hillier no.)
