Keisai Eisen and Tsutaya Kichizo
Mt. Fuji from Izu Province; The Courtesan Kisegawa of the Owariya Brothel
1829-1832
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- Artist: Keisai Eisen
- Publisher: Tsutaya Kichizo
Mt. Fuji from Izu Province; The Courtesan Kisegawa of the Owariya Brothel
1829-1832
Physical Qualities
Color woodcut, Sheet: 386 x 261 mm. (15 3/16 x 10 1/4 in.)
Credit Line
Gift from the Estate of Julius Levy
Object Number
1933.67.1
Kisegawa, a courtesan identified by name in this print, wears a robe decorated with a barnacle, various mollusks, and an undersea palace emanating from a clam shell, offering clients an eroticized fantasy world. The lanterns behind her display the emblem of her brothel; its owner likely paid for the print’s production to promote his business. Kisegawa’s personal crest of paired birds decorates her coat, sash, and hairpins. Though paid, sex workers were often in debt from fees charged for clothes and accessories like hairpins.
The Art of Pattern: Matisse & Japanese Woodblock Print Artists
"The Art of Pattern: Henri Matisse and Japanese Woodcut Artists," BMA Today, Illue 173, Winter/Spring 2024, p. 7.
Matthi Forrer, 'The Bauer Collection Japanese Prints,' Vol. 1, Geneva: Collections Baur, 1994, nos. G146 & G147.
Juzo Suzuki and Isaburo Oka, trans. by John Bester, 'The Decadents,' Tokyo and Palo Alto: Kodansha International Ltd., 1969, pp. 89-95.
POLA Research Inst., Edo bijin no yosooi (2018), pp. 74-5 (another print in the series)
Juzo Suzuki and Isaburo Oka, trans. by John Bester, 'The Decadents,' Tokyo and Palo Alto: Kodansha International Ltd., 1969, pp. 89-95.
POLA Research Inst., Edo bijin no yosooi (2018), pp. 74-5 (another print in the series)
Inscribed: FACE: signature, Keisai Eisen ga; publisher seal; Kiwame seal
