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The Courtesan Hinatsuru of the Chōji-yafront

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The Courtesan Hinatsuru of the Chōji-ya

  • Details

    show all
    Series
    The House of Flowers
    Associated place
    Tōkyō (place of creation)
    Tōkyō (place of publication)
    Date
    1789 - 1804
    Artist/maker
    Ichirakutei Eisui (active c. 1789 - 1823) (designer)
    Associated people
    Maruya Bun'emon (active c. 1789 - 1834) (publisher)
    Chōji-ya Hinatsuru (active late 18th century - early 19th century) (subject)
    Material and technique
    nishiki-e (multi-block) woodblock print, printed with water-based vegetable pigments; colour on the kimono re-touched by hand
    Dimensions
    mount 55.5 x 40.5 cm (height x width)
    print 36.4 x 24.5 cm (height x width)
    Material index
    paper
    Technique index
    colour woodcut,
    retouched
    Object type index
    print
    No. of items
    1
    Credit line
    Presented by Mrs Allan and Mr and Mrs H. N. Spalding, 1952.
    Accession no.
    EAX.4731

  • Further reading

    Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 24 August-30 November 2005, Beauties of the Four Seasons, Mitsuko Watanabe, ed. (Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 2005), no. 26 on p. 56, p. vii, illus. p. 57

Glossary (3)

kimono, nishiki-e, vegetable pigments

Location

    • currently in research collection

Objects are sometimes moved to a different location. Our object location data is usually updated on a monthly basis. Contact the Jameel Study Centre if you are planning to visit the museum to see a particular object on display, or would like to arrange an appointment to see an object in our reserve collections.

 

Publications online

  • Beauties of the Four Seasons by Mitsuko Watanabe

    Beauties of the Four Seasons

    Ichirakutei Eisui, who was a pupil of Chōbunsai Eishi, produced a huge number of portraits of beauties, far more than the other pupils of Eishi, and he was influenced by Utamaro.

    This print is a portrait of the courtesan Hinatsuru of the Chōji-ya who is about to write on a scroll which she holds in her left hand. Writing letters to customers was an important part of the duties of the courtesans. Hinatsuru was well-versed in the arts such as poetry, tea ceremony and music and was particularly popular in her time. Customers who wished to see her needed to make an appointment half a year in advance. Her hair-style is particularly impressive and shows many kanzashi (ornamental hairpins) and a hair clip. The colour of her kimono is beautifully embroidered with cherry blossoms.

    Part of her kimono has been re-touched by hand.
  • Beauties of the Four Seasons by Mitsuko Watanabe

    Beauties of the Four Seasons

    Ichirakutei Eisui, who was a pupil of Chōbunsai Eishi, produced a huge number of portraits of beauties, far more than the other pupils of Eishi, and he was influenced by Utamaro.

    This print is a portrait of the courtesan Hinatsuru of the Chōji-ya who is about to write on a scroll which she holds in her left hand. Writing letters to customers was an important part of the duties of the courtesans. Hinatsuru was well-versed in the arts such as poetry, tea ceremony and music and was particularly popular in her time. Customers who wished to see her needed to make an appointment half a year in advance. Her hair-style is particularly impressive and shows many kanzashi (ornamental hairpins) and a hair clip. The colour of her kimono is beautifully embroidered with cherry blossoms.

    Part of her kimono has been re-touched by hand.

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