The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 19, 2025

Hinazura of Chōjiya from the series Beauties as the Seven Komachi

c. 1793–97

Utagawa Toyokuni

(Japanese, 1769–1825)
Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)
Color woodblock print; ink and color on paper
Sheet: 37.9 x 25.4 cm (14 15/16 x 10 in.)
The Kelvin Smith Collection, given by Mrs. Kelvin Smith 1985.355
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

The courtesan seated on the floor holds a tobacco pipe and pouch.

Description

Seven plays based on legends from the life of 9th-century poet Ono no Komachi served as the source for this print series. Hinazura looks at a caged bird, symbolizing the play The Parrot, in which Komachi responds to a poem sent to her by the Emperor Yozei with a poem with just one syllable changed.
  • ?–1985
    The Kelvin Smith Collection, Cleveland, OH, given by Mrs. Kelvin [Eleanor Armstrong] Smith [1899–1998] to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1985–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • “Checklist of the Kelvin Smith Bequest.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 75, no. 7 (September 1988): 292–295. Mentioned: p. 293 www.jstor.org
  • Japanese Gallery 235 Rotation - September 2016-January 2017. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (September 19, 2016-January 8, 2017).
    A Private World: Japanese and Chinese Art from the Kelvin Smith Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 14-November 13, 1988).
  • {{cite web|title=Hinazura of Chōjiya from the series Beauties as the Seven Komachi|url=false|author=Utagawa Toyokuni|year=c. 1793–97|access-date=19 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1985.355