The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 19, 2025

Hatsuito of the Yamashiroya Likened to Bush Clover, from Beauties of the Floating World Compared to Flowers

1769–70

Suzuki Harunobu

(Japanese, 1724–1770)
Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)
color woodblock print
Sheet: 28.7 x 21.8 cm (11 5/16 x 8 9/16 in.)
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Wade 1916.1157
Location: Not on view

Description

Courtesan Hatsuito of a brothel named Yamashiroya is likened to autumnal bush clover in this series comparing the qualities of courtesans to flowers. Hatsuito ties her servant’s obi sash while a gibbon emerges from a painting in the room’s viewing alcove to offer a love letter on which Hatsuito’s name appears. Gibbons reaching in vain for the moon’s reflection in water is a common metaphor for the deluded mind, and bush clover in moonlight is a popular seasonal motif. Here, the ideas are combined as the gibbon woos this unattainable beauty.
  • ?–1916
    Mr. Jeptha Homer Wade II [1857–1926] and Mrs. Ellen Garretson Wade [1859–1917], Cleveland, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1916–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Japan’s Floating World 日本の浮世. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (April 8-October 9, 2022).
    Japanese Prints from the Museum Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 5-October 28, 1934).
  • {{cite web|title=Hatsuito of the Yamashiroya Likened to Bush Clover, from Beauties of the Floating World Compared to Flowers|url=false|author=Suzuki Harunobu|year=1769–70|access-date=19 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1916.1157