Courtesan seated on a balcony

ca. 1810

Japanese, active 1801 - 1829

Japanese

A courtesan is shown at repose in a room that opens to a balcony and view of the bay. She holds a blue-white porcelain cup, while resting a hand within the folds of her robe. A smoking set is placed at one side, the box containing her shamisen, a three-stringed instrument, at the other. Tobacco introduced from Portugal, and shamisen introduced from Okinawa, were both expensive and exotic items in in those days Japan, clearly hallmarks of a fashionable courtesan and her affected lifestyle. The painting's three-dimensional sense reveals the artist's adaptation of a western perspective combined with a traditional style of beauty.

Color on silk

16 1/8 x 25 7/8 in. (41 x 65.7 cm)

Overall h.: 55 1/2 in.

Overall w.: 27 5/8 in.

Gift of Miss Cora Clem

63.50

Not currently on view

Resources

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Legends, Tales, Poetry: Visual Narrative in Japanese Art, December 22, 2012 - July 21, 2013

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, "Refined Harmony: Decorative Arts from the Edo Period", March 7, 2003 - March 23, 2004

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