Kuchibeni

Object Details

• Artist

  Gion Seitoku (?-1827)

• Description

  This painting is a half-length portrait (okubi-e) of a type made popular by Japanese print artists such as Sharaku (fl. 1794-95), who focused on actors of the kabuki theater, and Utamaro (1754-1806), who specialized in portraits of women. An alluring courtesan is portrayed in the act of blotting her upper lip on a roll of letter paper. Her parted lips just reveal her teeth, blackened with an iron pigment that causes the teeth to recede into the shadows. The suggestive focus on her lips, which are made up in the contrasting red and green fashionable at the time, recalls the practice of seppun, or kissing, which was then regarded as a novel erotic technique. The overt eroticism of her expression is heightened by her sidelong gaze directly toward the viewer.

• Inscriptions

  1. (Ann Yonemura, 6 March 199) This painting is signed "Heian Seitoku sha" ("painted by Seitoku of Kyoto"), followed by two square seals. The upper seal, in intaglio style, reads "Seitoku no in." The lower seal, in relief style, reads "azana [ga] Hakuryu [to] iwaku" (pseudonym is Hakuryu). (see comment #1)

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  The Arts of Japan (July 14, 2012 to January 13, 2013)

  Seasons: Arts of Japan (February 5, 2011 to January 13, 2013)

  Life and Leisure: Everyday Life in Japanese Art (August 14, 2004 to February 20, 2005)

  Selections from the Japanese Collection (March 22 to November 29, 1999)

• Origin

  Japan

• Credit Line

  Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment

• Type

  Painting

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

  There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.

  The information presented on this website may be revised and updated at any time as ongoing research progresses or as otherwise warranted. Pending any such revisions and updates, information on this site may be incomplete or inaccurate or may contain typographical errors. Neither the Smithsonian nor its regents, officers, employees, or agents make any representations about the accuracy, reliability, completeness, or timeliness of the information on the site. Use this site and the information provided on it subject to your own judgment. The National Museum of Asian Art welcomes information that would augment or clarify the ownership history of objects in their collections.

Keep Exploring

• 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, 1690s, 1840s, 1680s, 1850s, 1670s, 1860s, 1660s

• Name

  Gion, Seitoku

• Place

  Japan

• Topic

  Art, Portraits, Ukiyo-e, Theater, Yakusha-e, Actors and actresses, Edo period, Japan, (1600 - 1868), Japanese Art, Lacquer, Courtesan, Okubi-e, Woman, Kakemono

• Culture

  Japanese

• Object Type

  Paintings