Hosoda Eishi (細田栄之) (artist 1756 – 1829)
Geisha and wakashu at Matsumoto tea house
ca 1794 – 1795
9.82 in x 14.565 in (Overall dimensions) Japanese woodblock print
Publisher: Iwatoya Kisaburō (岩戸屋喜三郎 Marks 173)
Seal: Iwa (Marks 08-151)
Viewing Japanese Prints The image above illustrates the left-hand sheet of an ôban-format triptych by Chôbunsai Eishi (1756-1829) published by Iwatoya Kisaburô c. early 1790s. It depicts a geisha with her two female attendants (one carrying a samisen case) and a wakashu (an elegant young man) leading the way while holding a paper lantern. They are about the enter the garden of the Matsumoto Teahouse whose gate is just visible at the far right. The center and right-hand sheets (not shown here) depict three standing women greeting the entertainers and a woman serving food to two others. In Eishi's print the geisha wears a kimono indicative of the restraint associated with iki. It shows a simple pattern of leaves against a russet ground; even her obi is an unpatterned orange. Eishi's composition has a peaceful and sophisticated aspect that is the hallmark of his style.
-- John Fiorillo, Viewing Japanese Prints
beautiful woman picture (bijin-ga - 美人画) (genre)