Courtesan beneath a Mosquito Net
date: label: Date
content: 1855
label: Period
content: Edo period
name: label: Calligrapher
content: Honda Jinzaburo (1781-1861)
label: Artist
content: Utagawa Kunisada 歌川国貞 (1786-1865)
notes: label: Label
content: This scene of a courtesan emerging from beneath a mosquito net as her cat returns her gaze alludes to a well-known episode from the eleventh-century literary work The Tale of Genji. Prince Genji’s wife, the Third princess, was concealed from public view, as was the custom among women of high status. When her cat pushed aside a bamboo blind, however, the Third princess was revealed to the courtier Kashiwagi, and thus began a secret affair between the two. Mitate (incongruous comparisons between courtly literature and modern urban life) were a popular visual device in Edo art.
label: Label
content: Inscribed at the top of the painting is a poem by Honda Jinzaburo (1781–1861), whose pen name was Tenmei Rojin. The poem alludes to the source of mosquito nets—the vendors from Omi near Lake Biwa—and to the trysts of courtesans beneath the netting on steamy summer nights.
label: Label
content: No matter whom
label: Label
content: the maiden meets
label: Label
content: under the omi net,
label: Label
content: her arm shows the mark
label: Label
content: of a mosquito’s stinger.
label: Label
content: Translation by John Carpenter
label: Provenance
content: Private collection, Japan [1]
label: Provenance
content: To 1995
label: Provenance
content: Mayuyama & Co. Ltd., Tokyo, to 1995
label: Provenance
content: From 1995
label: Provenance
content: Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Mayuyama & Co. Ltd. in 1995
label: Provenance
content: Notes:
label: Provenance
content: [1] This object was offered in auction at Christie's, New York in 1994 and failed to sell; it was returned to its owner in Japan and remarketed through Mayuyama and Co. (see Curatorial Note 3, James Ulak, December 1995, in the object record).
label: Collection
content: Freer Gallery of Art Collection
label: Exhibition History
content: Japanese Arts in the Edo Period: 1615-1868, part 2 (March 8 to October 19, 2008)
label: Exhibition History
content: The Floating World: Ukiyo-e Paintings and Prints (December 8, 2002 to May 26, 2003)
label: Exhibition History
content: Telling Tales in Japanese Art (November 23, 1996 to August 14, 1997)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Mayuyama & Co., Ltd. (established 1916)
place: label: Origin
content: Japan
topic: label: Topic
content: Edo period (1615 - 1868)
label: Topic
content: courtesan
label: Topic
content: Japan
label: Topic
content: ukiyo-e
label: Topic
content: kakemono
label: Topic
content: Japanese Art
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: Purchase — Harold P. Stern Memorial Fund
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: F1995.17
objectType: label: Type
content: Painting
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: Ink and color on silk
label: Dimensions
content: H x W (image): 101.5 x 38.5 cm (39 15/16 x 15 3/16 in)