The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of July 15, 2026

A woodblock print features Japanese calligraphy across the top and a scene below of two women with light skin tones on a boat. On our right, a standing woman in a checked robe holds a folding fan. To the left, another woman sits in a pale robe looking toward a potted pine and iris. Patterned textiles drape the boat's interior, while dark, stylized waves churn across the bottom.

Party on the Pleasure Boat Kawaichimaru

c. 1796–97

Chōbunsai Eishi

(Japanese, 1756–1829)
Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)
One of a pentaptych of color woodblock prints
Sheet: 38.2 x 24.2 cm (15 1/16 x 9 1/2 in.)
Gift from J. H. Wade 1921.364.b
Location: Not on view

Description

A pleasure boat named Kawaichimaru is filled with entertainers in this expansive scene. At the vessel’s right end, a young dancer waits as her costume’s hat is arranged. In the middle, a trio of musicians performs, two on drums and another on shamisen, a three-stringed instrument. Listening to them is an elegant woman smoking her pipe. At the left end, three women, one on a neighboring boat, enjoy a spectacular floral arrangement of pine, lily, and iris on a lacquer stand.
  • Hayashi Tamdamasa
    ?–1921
    Carl William Schraubstadter [1862–1947]
    February 11, 1921
    (American Art Association, February 11, 1921 sale, lot 315)
    1921
    (Yamanaka & Co., New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1921–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • {{cite web|title=Party on the Pleasure Boat Kawaichimaru|url=false|author=Chōbunsai Eishi|year=c. 1796–97|access-date=15 July 2026|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1921.364.b