Celebration at the entrance of the new Yoshiwara

Katsukawa Shunkō II (1762-ca. 1830)

Item type:

painting

Date of creation:

early 19th century

Height:

148.6 cm  (58 1/2 in.)

Width:

79.7 cm  (31 3/8 in.)

dimensions of each panel, image only; with mount, each panel: 168 x 89 cm

Technique / Medium:

ink and color on silk

Place of creation:

Nihon [Japan] (日本国)

School:

Edo period

Description

Two-panel folding screen.
Gallery text from museum website: Populated by more than 60 figures, this spectacular visualization of the Yoshiwara, Edo’s licensed pleasure district, offers an insider’s view of the main entrance to the quarter. At right, commercial deliverymen and clients—some elegantly dressed, others attempting to conceal their identity—enter the urban fantasyland through the "Great Gate." Within, the viewer is greeted by the sight of courtesans and their retinues parading around the blossoming cherry trees that were brought into the quarter each spring, doubling the opportunities for male customers to view Edo’s "flowers." In private rooms above the street, where female entertainers ply their clients with food, drink, and music, the revelry has already begun [women playing shamisens are visible in the private rooms, at the upper edge of the panels].

Iconclass

48C732
string instruments (plucked)
48C753
more than one musician with instrument
33C521
courtesan, hetaera

Instruments [MIMO Code] (notes)

Shamisen [3451]
Plectrum [6074]

RIdIM images

Image URLs

image link 1

Notes

inscription: Ka[shosai] Shunkō ga ; seal: Katsukawa

RIdIM record id

5824