Prints
Courtesans of the Ōgiya on a Spring Outing
Details
- Author / creator
- Utagawa Toyokuni (Japanese, 1769–1825)
- Object type
- Date or period
- mid- or late 1790s
- Dimensions summary
- Sheet: 36.9 × 23.8 cm
- Place of origin
- Japan
- Acquisition method
- Purchase
- Credit line
- Purchased with the Public appeal (1998), 1921
- Paper / support
- Japanese paper
- State and impression
- Proof before letters
About this object
In these prints, two courtesans of the Ōgiya brothel are entering an open pavilion, while another group gathers around a Japanese hibachi inside. Hanaōgi, the most celebrated courtesan of Ōgiya in the late 1700s, is depicted at a desk. Holding a brush in her hand, she turns her head to one side as if gathering her thoughts before writing in the book before her. Both her position and her loosened hair separate Hanaōgi from her courtesan companions who wear elaborate coiffures. This depiction of her captures both her knowledge of poetry and her skill as a calligrapher.
Materials and technique
One of a triptych of woodblock prints
Signature and marks
Signature: Toyokuni ga Publisher: Izumiya Ichibei (Senichi han) Censorship Seal: kiwame
