Courtesan seated on a balcony
ca. 1810
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