Adachi Ginkō (安達吟光) (artist 1853 – 1902)
Lady-in-waiting Ben no Naishi (辨の内侍) from the series Mirror of Famous Women from Ancient and Modern Times (Kokon meifu kagami - 古今名婦鏡)
1886 – 1887
9.375 in x 13.875 in (Overall dimensions) Japanese woodblock print
Signed: Shōsai Ginkō ga
松斎吟光画
Publisher: Sasaki Toyokichi (佐々木豊吉)
(Marks 450)
Honolulu Museum of Art
Lyon Collection - another print from this series There are two prints from this series in the Lyon Collection. See also #1451.
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"Ben no Naishi (1228–1270), a descendant of a literary branch of the Fujiwara family, created an innovative poetic account focusing on her public personae as a naishi serving at the court of Go-Fukakusa (r. 1246–1259). Traditional scholarship regards Ben no Naishi Nikki [diary] as a naive record of court minutiae written without any literary purpose, but Ben no Naishi’s text is constructed consciously by her devotion to sacred and secular duties as naishi (female courtiers), who as guardians of the royal regalia—the Mirror, the Sword, and the Jewels—played vital roles in rites that legitimized and perpetuated the rule of the royal family."
Quoted from the summary of this volume published by the University of Hawai'i Press.
Sasaki Toyokichi (佐々木豊吉) (publisher)
Meiji era (明治時代: 1868-1912) (genre)
Historical - Social - Ephemera (genre)