A courtesan and her attendant under a cherry tree

Detail of a pattern
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At A Glance

  • Period

    late 18th-early 19th century
  • Geography

    Japan
  • Material

    Color on paper
  • Dimension

    H x W (image): 122.8 × 49.5 cm (48 3/8 × 19 1/2 in)
  • Accession Number

    F1898.431
  • EDAN ID

    edanmdm:fsg_F1898.431

Object Details

  • Artist

    Tawaraya Sori III (fl. ca. late 18th-early 19th century)
  • Description

    A courtesan and her attendant under a cherry tree. Color. Poem. Signature and seal. Paper kakemono.
  • Signatures

    Signed: Hishikawa Sori ga.
  • Inscriptions

    Above the figure of the girl is a comic ode signed Utatsune:
    Ka o tomura
    Sode no oshisa ni
    Furisode no
    Kino o shinobu
    Hana no shitakage.
    Translation:
    Translation:
  • Provenance

    To 1898
    Edward S. Hull Jr., New York to 1898 [1]
    From 1898 to 1919
    Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Edward S. Hull Jr. in 1898 [2]
    From 1920
    Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]
    Notes:
    [1] See Original Kakemono and Makimono List, L. 195, pg. 43, as well as Voucher No. 38, November 1898, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. Edward S. Hull Jr. was Ernest Francisco Fenollosa’s (1853-1908) lawyer. Hull often acted as an agent, facilitating purchases of objects consigned to him by Fenollosa, as well as purchases of objects consigned to him by Fenollosa's
    well-known associate, Bunshichi Kobayashi (see correspondence, Hull to Freer, 1898-1900, as well as invoices from E.S. Hull Jr., 1898-1900, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives). See also, Ingrid Larsen, "'Don’t Send Ming or Later Pictures': Charles Lang Freer and the First Major Collection of Chinese Painting in an American Museum," Ars Orientalis vol. 40 (2011), pgs. 15 and 34. See further, Thomas Lawton and Linda Merrill, Freer: A Legacy of Art, (Washington, DC and New York: Freer Gallery of Art and H. N. Abrams, 1993), pgs. 133-134.
    [2] See note 1.
    [3] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920 upon the completion of the Freer Gallery.
  • Collection

    Freer Gallery of Art Collection
  • Previous custodian or owner

    Edward S. Hull Jr. (C.L. Freer source)
    Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)
  • Origin

    Japan
  • Credit Line

    Gift of Charles Lang Freer
  • Type

    Painting
  • Restrictions and Rights

    CC0 - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0)

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