Isoda Koryūsai (1735-1790) - Lot 14

Lot n° 14
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Result : 9 058EUR
Isoda Koryūsai (1735-1790) - Lot 14
Isoda Koryūsai (1735-1790) Oban tate-e, from the series Hinagata wakana no hatsu moyō (雛形若菜の初模様), Models of Fashion: as Fresh as Young Shoots, Chōjiya nai Meizan plate (丁子屋内名山), Meizan of the Chōjiya. Signed Koryū ga and kakihan. Eijudo publisher. Late 1770s. Dim. 37.2 x 25 cm The kamuro on the left wears a kimono with a bamboo leaf (sasa) pattern combined with interlaced white rings. The other kamuro's kimono features the same rings and paulownia flowers (kiri). The pattern on Meizan's outer robe contains all three symbols, indicating that she is more mature and educated. This pattern also underlines her role as guardian and janitor of the two youngest daughters. Meizan, a high-ranking oiran from the Chōjiya brothel in the Yoshiwara district, is shown here with her kamuro, Ageha and Kochō. Children from poor families were often sold to brothels, to earn money and have one less mouth to feed. The oiran strove to educate the kamuro entrusted to them. References This print was featured in the exhibition The Riddles of Ukiyo-e. Women and Men in Japanese Prints 1765-1865, Japan Museum SieboldHuis, Leiden, 2023. Reproduced in the exhibition catalog, pp. 38-39 Similar print reproduced in Hockley, The Prints of Isoda Koryūsai: Floating World Culture and Its Consumers in Eighteenth-Century Japan (2003) p. 230 appendix 2 A similar copy, albeit from a different print run, is in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Accession number 11.14622.
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