Item from the Mokuhankan Flea Market

Courtesan with Maid and Temari Ball

Size: 37.0cm by 23.0cm (14.57 in by 9.06 in) | Enlargement | Shipping Code: [L] ?

Designer: Isoda Koryusai

Era: Post-war | Currency: $ / £ / €

Price: ¥ 7,500$ 58.00£ 50.75€ 59.00 [Item has been sold]

Description: Information from the pamphlet supplied by the publisher Adachi: "A courtesan is playing temari (hand ball) on a large lacquered chest for clothing, as is the kamuro (young girl attendant training to become a courtesan) behind her. It is a sight of petty enjoyment for women of the red-light district who were compared to birds in a cage.

"The artist Koryusai (Masakatsu by given name and Shobei more familiarly) was a ronin formerly in the service of the Tsuchiya clan. At the birth of nishiki-e (full-color print) in 1764, he drew bijin-ga (pictures of feminine beauty) under the influence of the then dominant artist, Suzuki Harunobu (1725-70). His bijin-ga, as compared with those by Harunobu, are somewhat more realistic. After Harunobu's death in 1770 he began to show his personal style distinctly, as typified by this piece.

"It has something of the Harunobu style still lingering on, but clearly shows his own characteristics in style, and reveals his trend to emphasize the beauty of designs on women's dresses. All in all, this print represents the artist's style in the period ranging from the end of the Meiwa (1764-72) to the An'ei (1772-81) era. Late in his life Koryusai was conferred with the honorary title Hokkyo and specialized in paintings."

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