A Dancer Performing Heron Maiden

Dateca. 1766-68

Maker Suzuki Harunobu Japanese, 1724 - 1770

Label TextThe presence of a samisen, a three-stringed instrument, in a print typically implies a geisha or her apprentice, the geiko. This charming scene highlights the role of girls and women as artist-entertainers in the pleasure quarters. In theory at least, these young girls and their slightly older counterparts, the geisha, were performers, not courtesans.

Object number2013.31.3

Provenance[Egenolf Gallery, Burbank, California]; purchased from gallery by Allan Kollar, Seattle, Washington, 2006; to Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington, 2013

Photo CreditPhoto: Colleen Kollar Zorn

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Fleeting Beauty: Japanese Woodblock Prints, Apr. 1 - July 4, 2010. Text by Catherine Roche. Cat. no. 11, reproduced pp. 14, 34. Seattle, Washington, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Renegade Edo: Japanese Prints and Toulouse-Lautrec, July 21 - Dec. 3, 2023. Text by Xiaojin Wu. No cat. no., pp. 36, 100, reproduced pl. 9.

Credit LineGift of Mary and Allan Kollar, in honor of the 75th Anniversary of the Seattle Art Museum

DimensionsSheet size: 8 7/8 x 12 3/4 in. (22.5 x 32.4 cm)

MediumWoodblock print; ink and color on paper