A Courtesan tying her sash in the wind

Maker(s)
Artist: Katsukawa Shun'ei 勝川春英 (1762-1819)
Historical period(s)
Edo period, 18th-19th century
Medium
Ink and color on silk
Dimensions
H x W: 91 x 32.8 cm (35 13/16 x 12 15/16 in)
Geography
Japan
Credit Line
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art Collection
Accession Number
F1899.18
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Painting
Type

Hanging scroll (mounted on panel)

Keywords
child, courtesan, Edo period (1615 - 1868), Japan, kakemono, ukiyo-e
Provenance

To 1899
Edward S. Hull Jr., New York to 1899 [1]

From 1899 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Edward S. Hull Jr. in 1899 [2]

From 1920
Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]

Notes:

[1] See Original Kakemono List, L. 201, as well as Voucher No. 9, May 1899, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. Edward S. Hull Jr. was Ernest Francisco Fenollosa’s (1853-1908) lawyer. Hull often acted as an agent, facilitating purchases of objects consigned to him by Fenollosa, as well as purchases of objects consigned to him by Fenollosa's well-known associate, Bunshichi Kobayashi (see correspondence, Hull to Freer, 1898-1900, as well as invoices from E.S. Hull Jr., 1898-1900, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives). See also, Ingrid Larsen, "'Don’t Send Ming or Later Pictures': Charles Lang Freer and the First Major Collection of Chinese Painting in an American Museum," Ars Orientalis vol. 40 (2011), pgs. 15 and 34. See further, Thomas Lawton and Linda Merrill, Freer: A Legacy of Art, (Washington, DC and New York: Freer Gallery of Art and H. N. Abrams, 1993), pgs. 133-134.

[2] See note 1.

[3] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920 upon the completion of the Freer Gallery.

Previous Owner(s) and Custodian(s)

Edward S. Hull Jr. (C.L. Freer source)
Charles Lang Freer 1854-1919

Label

Blown by a strong spring wind, a courtesan attended by a young boy stops to retie her sash (obi). The artist Shun'ei, who was an important designer of actor prints, has created a graceful image that expresses the effect of the wind on the willow tree above and the light, sheer garments of the courtesan.

Published References
  • Harold P. Stern, Narasaki Muneshige. Ukiyo-e shuka. vol. 16, Tokyo. vol. 16: pl. 42.
  • Elisabeth West FitzHugh. A Pigment Census of Ukiyo-e Paintings in the Freer Gallery of Art. vol. 11 Washington and Ann Arbor, 1979. pp. 27-38.
  • Harold P. Stern. Ukiyo-e Painting: Freer Gallery of Art Fiftieth Anniversary Exhibition. Exh. cat. Washington and Baltimore, 1973. cat. 69, pp. 188-191.
Collection Area(s)
Japanese Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
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