Beauty Holding a Fan Seated beside a Pot of Morning Glory

ca. 1830-44

Japanese, 1771-1844

A beautiful woman holding a fan sits next to a pot of morning glory, which symbolizes youthful beauty. She wears her floral kimono loosely, and her red under-kimono suggestively uncovers her white bare feet—all signals that she is a courtesan.

Ink and color on silk

38 x 13 3/4 in. (96.5 x 34.9 cm)

Gift of Mary and Allan Kollar

2015.17.2

Provenance: [Sebastian Izzard, New York]; purchased from gallery by Allan Kollar, Seattle, Washington, 2009; to Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington, 2015

Photo: Elizabeth Mann

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. 50, reproduced p. 73.

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Boundless: Stories of Asian Art, Feb. 8, 2020 - ongoing [on view July 16 - Dec. 5, 2021].

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