Tagasode of the Tamaya House

1800-02

Japanese, 1754 - 1806

The robe of this celebrated courtesan of the Tamaya house displays a starburst pattern made of tiny, white dotted resists known as kanoko shibori. This resist-dying technique was so labor-intensive and the robes so expensive that the method was banned under the Tokugawa shogunate's strict sumptuary laws. The pattern on Tagasode's robe is likely a stenciled reproduction of the fawn-dapple resist technique.

--Catherine Roche, Curatorial Associate, 2010

Woodblock print; ink and color on paper

Sheet: 15 1/2 x 10 1/2 in. (39.4 x 26.7 cm)

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

2017.23.13

Provenance: [Egenolf Gallery, Burbank, California]; purchased from gallery by Allan Kollar, Seattle, Washington, 2004; to Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington, 2017

Photo: Colleen Kollar Zorn

Not currently on view

Resources

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Fleeting Beauty: Japanese Woodblock Prints, Apr. 1 - July 4, 2010. Text by Catherine Roche. Cat. no. 29, reproduced p. 52.

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

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Talents and Beauties: Art of Women in Japan, Nov. 4, 2017 - Jul. 15, 2018.

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. 78, 102, reproduced pl. 41.

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