triptych print BM-1909-0618-0.84.1-3

Period:Unknown Production date:1790 (c.)
Materials:paper
Technique:woodblock, colour,
Subjects:chinese pleasure quarters brothel/brothel-keeper courtesan/prostitute reading/writing
Dimensions:Height: 36.50 centimetres (each) Width: 24 centimetres (each)

Description:
Colour woodblock triptych print. Feast in a Chinese house of courtesans; women in Chinese dress, reading, playing music and games; landscape with lake and mountains in background. Signed and marked.
IMG


Comments:Smith 1988A fanciful reconstruction of a Chinese house of courtesans, but in fact populated by typical Utamaro women in only slightly modified dress. The background scenery is in the style of the official Kano School which Utamaro both despised and envied. The print was probably published to coincide with an embassy from the Ryukyu Islands in 1790. Japanese of the time perceived the Ryukyuans as ‘Chinese’. It is signed ‘Painted by Utamaro’.