Browse: 10610 objects
Courtesans relaxing in the afternoon
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Details
- Associated place
- Date
- 1780 - 1795
- Artist/maker
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Katsukawa Shunchō (active 1780 - 1795) (designer)
- Associated people
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Nishimuraya Yohachi (c. 1751 - c. 1870) (publisher)
- Material and technique
- nishiki-e (multi-block) woodblock print, printed with water-based vegetable pigments
- Dimensions
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mount 55.3 x 40.6 cm (height x width)
print 39.2 x 25.8 cm (height x width)
- Material index
- Technique index
- Object type index
- No. of items
- 1
- Credit line
- Presented by Mrs Allan and Mr and Mrs H. N. Spalding, 1952.
- Accession no.
- EAX.4082
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Further reading
Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 24 August-30 November 2005, Beauties of the Four Seasons, Mitsuko Watanabe, ed. (Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 2005), no. 9 on p. 18, illus. p. 19
Glossary (2)
nishiki-e, vegetable pigments
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nishiki-e
Nishiki-e literally means 'brocade pictures' and refers to multi-coloured woodblock prints.
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vegetable pigments
Vegetable pigments were used to create coloured dyes for Japanese prints, paintings, and textiles. These pigments often faded over time due to the chemical reactions they underwent.
Location
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- 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
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Beauties of the Four Seasons
Courtesans gathered chatting on the veranda of a Green House with the shōji (sliding doors made with paper) open, on a cheerful sunny day. Even the cat seems to be relaxed. In the background Shunchō has, most unusually, used geometrical perspective, showing the details of the structure of a Green house of the period, easily divided into small rooms suitable for small parties.
During the Edo era, the style and thickness of kimono was changed four times a year. These girls are wearing awase (lined kimono) which were worn in early summer and late autumn. The design of chrysanthemum on the kimono of the central standing girl may relate to the Chrysanthemum Festival in September.
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