Oiran and fireflies

Object Details

• Artist

  Chobunsai Eishi 鳥文斎栄之 (1756-1829)

• Description

  Painting of a standing woman dressed in a flowing robe holding a fan. Fireflies appear above her below several lines of an inscription at the top of the composition. Signature and seal at lower left.

• Signatures

  Signature: "chobunsai eishi no hitsu" translation: "painted by Chobunsai Eishi."

• Marks

  Seal of Eishi.

• Inscriptions

  Preceding the poem is the title "keira shosen de ryukei wo utsu" translation: "Tapping the floating fireflies with a light gauze fan."

  The poem runs:

  "negawakuwa

  hotaru to narite

  kimi ga te ni

  utarete karuki

  usumono no sode"

  Translation:

  "Oh that I might

  Be but a little firefly

  To be tapped by

  The hand of my loved one

  In airy gossamer sleeves."

• Label

  Summer fireflies hover above a woman wearing a thin black kimono with an obi (sash) tied at the front, a style that identifies her as a courtesan. Her sheer kimono reveals an alluring, provocative red under layer that falls open to reveal her slender body. The poem above her is signed by Shokusanjin, the literary name of the writer Ota Nanpo (1749-1823). The verse is a contemporary Edo-period style called kyoka, which follows the 31-syllable form of classical Japanese court poetry but with a contemporary, often humorous tone. It expresses a woman's wish to be a firefly touched by her lover's hand in his thin summer garment.

• 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. 145, pg. 31, 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

• Exhibition History

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

• 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

  Usage Conditions Apply

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  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1700s, 1710s, 1720s, 1900s, 1770s, 1780s, 1790s, 1730s, 1740s, 1750s, 1760s, 1800s, 1810s, 1820s, 1830s, 1610s, 1650s, 1640s, 1630s, 1620s, 1690s, 1840s, 1680s, 1850s, 1670s, 1860s, 1660s

• Name

  Hull, Edward S., Freer, Charles Lang

• Place

  Japan

• Topic

  Charles Lang Freer collection, Art, Edo period, Japan, (1600 - 1868), Japanese Art, Courtesan, Ukiyo-e, Poetry, Firefly, Kakemono

• Culture

  Japanese

• Object Type

  Paintings