Utai no Shisho

Object Details

• Artist

  Numata Gessai 沼田月斎 (1787-1864)

• Label

  Fantasy and reality meet in the many images of courtesans and kabuki actors in the “floating world” (ukiyo) of Edo and other urban centers. Prints for the mass market and paintings for more privileged owners celebrated the beauty and artistic abilities of high-class courtesans and geisha, who were often skilled in poetry, calligraphy, music, and dance. Here, a geisha holds a shamisen, a three-stringed musical instrument, as a child looks on.

  This painting is in an unusual nearly square format and signed “Gessai Gabimaru.” He is associated with only a few surviving works, all of them showing courtesans and geisha. The artist’s identity and artistic lineage remain unclear, but this painting, acquired by Charles Lang Freer in 1906, reveals the elegance and grace of the Japanese artist’s figure paintings.

• Provenance

  To 1900

  Ikeda Seisuke (1839-1900), Kyoto, to 1900 [1]

  To 1906

  S. Ikeda, Tokyo, to 1906 [2]

  From 1906 to 1919

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from S. Ikeda in 1906 [3]

  From 1920

  Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [4]

  Notes:

  [1] See Original Kakemono and Makimono List, L. 527, no. I, pg. 145, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.

  [2] See note 1. It is probable that S. Ikeda refers to Ikeda Sei’emon (or Seisuke II), the eldest son of the well-known Japanese dealer and collector Ikeda Seisuke (1839-1900). Ikeda Sei’emon maintained shops in Tokyo and Kyoto under the trade name S. Ikeda & Co. After the death of his father, Ikeda Sei’emon sold a number of objects from his father's collection (Ikeda Collection).

  [3] See notes 1 and 2.

  [4] 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

• Exhibition History

  Japanese Arts in the Edo Period: 1615-1868, part 2 (March 8 to October 19, 2008)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Ikeda Seisuke (1839-1900)

  S. Ikeda (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)

  This image is in the public domain (free of copyright restrictions). You can copy, modify, and distribute this work without contacting the Smithsonian. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.

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• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1700s, 1710s, 1720s, 1770s, 1780s, 1790s, 1730s, 1740s, 1750s, 1760s, 1800s, 1810s, 1820s, 1830s, 1610s, 1650s, 1640s, 1630s, 1620s, 1840s, 1690s, 1680s, 1850s, 1670s, 1860s, 1660s

• Name

  Freer, Charles Lang, Ikeda, Seisuke, Ikeda, S.

• Place

  Japan

• Topic

  Charles Lang Freer collection, Art, Shamisen, Edo period, Japan, (1600 - 1868), Japanese Art, Ukiyo-e, Seal, Kakemono

• Culture

  Japanese

• Object Type

  Paintings