Artwork Page for Kureha of Gakuiseya, from Selection of Beauties from the Pleasure Quarters

Details / Information for Kureha of Gakuiseya, from Selection of Beauties from the Pleasure Quarters

Kureha of Gakuiseya, from Selection of Beauties from the Pleasure Quarters

絵本青楼美人合内 額いせ屋のくれは

1770

Suzuki Harunobu 鈴木春信

(Japanese, 1724–1770)
Culture
Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)
Medium
color woodblock print
Measurements
Sheet: 21.6 x 14.6 cm (8 1/2 x 5 3/4 in.)
Credit Line
Gift from J. H. Wade 1921.1282
Public Domain
You can copy, modify, and distribute this work, all without asking permission. Learn more about CMA's Open Access Initiative.
Location
Not on view
Print

Description

This print of a courtesan named Kureha reading a letter comes from a five-volume series of picture books that Suzuki Harunobu designed with images of 166 beautiful courtesans of the Edo (now Tokyo) pleasure district. In intact copies of the fourth volume, of which this is a trimmed page, Kureha is the fifth and final courtesan representing her house, Gakuiseya; the house crest is a roundel formed of pine branches, seen on her outer robe’s sleeve. All poems in the volume are autumnal, and Kureha’s describes white dew on colorful maple leaves.
A vertically oriented woodblock print depicts a woman with light skin tone facing our left, her eyes downturned toward a long scroll held in both hands. She wears a layered, trailing robe in muted shades of orange, white, and light green with floral patterns. Her black hair is pinned with a yellow comb and several thin pins. Columns of black script appear on the tan background to our left and right.

Kureha of Gakuiseya, from Selection of Beauties from the Pleasure Quarters

1770

Suzuki Harunobu

(Japanese, 1724–1770)
Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)

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