Courtesan in Night Attire Standing on a Verandah
Suzuki Harunobu
Asian Art
A young woman’s slumping posture indicates that she is dejected. On the paper screen behind her are the faint shadows of musicians, indicating that she has left a party to be alone. Knowing Harunobu’s tendency to hide literary references in his designs, scholars have suggested that this image refers to a well-known Japanese story about a beloved mirror, a female outcaste, and a cursed bell, which are represented by the stone basin full of reflective water, the lonely beauty, and the dipper (which is shaped like a mallet used to strike a bell). The story tells of the woe that comes to people who are greedy or overly attached to worldly things.
MEDIUM
Color woodblock print on paper
DATES
ca. 1767
PERIOD
Edo Period
DIMENSIONS
Sheet: 10 3/4 x 8 1/4 in. (27.3 x 21.0 cm)
Image: 10 1/2 x 8 1/4 in. (26.7 x 21.0 cm)
(show scale)
SIGNATURE
Harunobu ga
ACCESSION NUMBER
45.158.1
CREDIT LINE
Ella C. Woodward Memorial Fund
MUSEUM LOCATION
This item is not on view
CAPTION
Suzuki Harunobu (Japanese, 1724–1770). Courtesan in Night Attire Standing on a Verandah, ca. 1767. Color woodblock print on paper, Sheet: 10 3/4 x 8 1/4 in. (27.3 x 21.0 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Ella C. Woodward Memorial Fund, 45.158.1 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 45.158.1_IMLS_PS3.jpg)
IMAGE
overall, 45.158.1_IMLS_PS3.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
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