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Kikukawa Eizan
Japanese, 1787-1867
The Courtesan Tagasode of the House of Tamaya,
ca. 1815, from the series: Seven Worthies of the
Bamboo Grove
Published by Omiya Yohei (Shoyeido)
Nishiki-e (color woodblock print)
Oban format
Museum Collection
Ukiyo-e prints sometimes advertised famous cultured high-ranking
courtesans and the establishments where they could be found.
Their favors would be expensive and not immediately available.
Exchanged "love" letters might be part of the ritualized
illusion. Here, the courtesan seems to be in a reverie about her
lover, shown in the inset. He is depicted in a rather Chinese
style of drawing, walking in a bamboo grove. She has been
playing a koto and clutches a hygenic towel. Has the distance
between love and rank been bridged-or are they in two
unbridgeable worlds? The "Chinese" connection makes the print
"classier." Eizan has some of Utamaro's sinuous elegance, unlike
the more tortuous and intense styles of Kuniyoshi and Yoshitoshi.
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