Utagawa Kunisada (歌川国貞) / Toyokuni III (三代豊国) (artist 1786 – 01/12/1865)

Young Geisha/Prostitute: Fukagawa (深川[新子] Fukagawa Shinko) from the series Edo Meisho (Famous Places of Edo - 江戸名所) - surimono-like

Print

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Date:ca 1824 – 1825
Dimensions:5 in x 7.5 in (Overall dimensions) Medium:Japanese woodblock print
Inscription:Signed: ōju (by special request)
Kunisada ga (應需国貞画)
Links Nationaal Museum van Wereldculturen (Rijksmuseum Volkenkunde, Leiden) Description:The title cartouche is placed within a matsukawa-bishi (松皮菱) or pine bark, i.e., triple lozenge, motif. Kunisada used it elsewhere, but only rarely, to enclose his toshidama symbol which often accompanied his signature.

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"The term shinko in the title... was used primarily in Fukagawa, the site of the largest unlicensed entertainment district in Edo, and refers to a girl of around seventeen who has just become a prostitute. Fukagawa women were known for their simplicity: this beauty wears a robe that is less gaudy than most; the purples fades to pink around the hem and is decorated with morning glories. The obi has a pattern of phoenix roundels. Her hair is modestly decorated with three tortoiseshell combs and pins and one met pin. The shinko's hunched pose (she seems almost deformed) is characteristic of Kunisada's style at this time..."

Quoted from: Kunisada's World by Sebastian Izzard, p. 94.

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There are other copies of this print in the Kupferstich-Kabinett, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Dresden and in the Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde, Leiden.

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Illlustrated in black and white in Kunisada's World by Sebastian Izzard, Japan Society, 1993, number 36/5, page 95.
Related entities beautiful woman picture (bijin-ga - 美人画) (genre)
landscape prints (fūkeiga 風景画) (genre)

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