A prostitute sitting beside a writing table
date: label: Date
content: 1806, 6th month
label: Period
content: Edo period
name: label: Artist
content: Kitao Masayoshi 北尾政美 (1764-1824)
notes: label: School/Tradition
content: Ukiyo-e
label: Description
content: A woman with flowing robes sitting beside a writing table. Signature and seal; inscription and three seals.
label: Marks
content: The three seals are as follows:
label: Marks
content: Seal: [CHN] Santo
label: Marks
content: Round seal: [CHN] Ha Sanjin
label: Marks
content: Round seal: [CHN] Ha Sanjin
label: Inscriptions
content: The inscription is as follows:
label: Inscriptions
content: ([CHN] Itsuzuke o kyaku tsukamatsurazu kore jin nari ([CHN]) ikiji wo tatsuru kore ([CHN]) gi nari ([CHN]) monbi no ([CHN]) dochu
label: Inscriptions
content: ([CHN]) kore rei nari neya no ([CHN]) tekuda wa kore ([CHN]) chi nari
label: Inscriptions
content: makoto ni hamaru wa ([CHN]) kore shin nari ([CHN]) go-jo mo ([CHN]) go-jo ni
label: Inscriptions
content: ([CHN]) aioi no ([CHN]) matsu no ([CHN]) iro zo tanoshimu-tanoshimu
label: Inscriptions
content: ([CHN]) Santo Kyoden daisuru ([CHN]) Bun-kwa hi-no-e-tora natsu roku gwatsu
label: Inscriptions
content: This may be rendered in English as follows:
label: Inscriptions
content: “Not to permit a guest to stay in the brothel day after day: this is Benevolence. To show an unyielding disposition: this is Rightiousness. To put on full dress with five crests and parade about the quarter on the five appointed days: this is Propriety. To employ artifice in the bedroom: this is Widsom. To fall truly in love: this is Good Faith.
label: Inscriptions
content: “Gojo (the ‘Five Cardinal Virtues,’ --- just enumerated) and gojo (the ‘five streets,’ --- of the Yoshiwara), may be likened to the two ‘Composition Pine Trees’; and the rank of Tayu (‘Great Civil Officer’), proper to a pine, means also a first class prostitute who enjoys amorous experiences with all guests of the house, treating each according to his kind.
label: Inscriptions
content: “Written by Santo Kyoden.
label: Inscriptions
content: “Written by Santo Kyoden.
label: Provenance
content: To 1903
label: Provenance
content: Yamanaka & Company, to 1903 [1]
label: Provenance
content: From 1903 to 1919
label: Provenance
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Yamanaka & Company in 1903 [2]
label: Provenance
content: From 1920
label: Provenance
content: Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]
label: Provenance
content: Notes:
label: Provenance
content: [1] Undated folder sheet note. See Original Kakemono and Makimono List, L. 303, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. The majority of Charles Lang Freer’s purchases from Yamanaka & Company were made at its New York branch. Yamanaka & Company maintained branch offices, at various times, in Boston, Chicago, London, Peking, Shanghai, Osaka, Nara, and Kyoto. During the summer, the company also maintained seasonal locations in Newport, Bar Harbor, and Atlantic City.
label: Provenance
content: [2] See note 1.
label: Provenance
content: [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.
label: Collection
content: Freer Gallery of Art Collection
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Yamanaka and Co. 山中商会 (1917-1965) (C.L. Freer source)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)
place: label: Origin
content: Japan
topic: label: Topic
content: Edo period (1615 - 1868)
label: Topic
content: writing
label: Topic
content: Japan
label: Topic
content: ukiyo-e
label: Topic
content: kakemono
label: Topic
content: Japanese Art
label: Topic
content: Charles Lang Freer collection
setName: label: Related Online Resources
content: Google Arts & Culture
label: See more items in
content: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Collection
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Charles Lang Freer
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: F1903.65
objectType: label: Type
content: Painting
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: Full color on silk
label: Dimensions
content: H x W (image): 41.8 × 69.3 cm (16 7/16 × 27 5/16 in)