Woman washing her hair with an attendant
date: label: Date
content: mid-18th century
label: Period
content: Edo period
name: label: Artist
content: Katsukawa Shunsui 勝川春水 (fl. 1744-1764)
notes: label: Signatures
content: Signature: Miyagawa shunsui gwa.
label: Marks
content: Seal: Shunsui no in.
label: Label
content: This painting treats the popular subject of beautiful women (bijin), who were often portrayed in both woodblock prints and paintings. Scenes of bathing, washing hair, or other grooming provide the viewer with an intimate view of the private lives of sought-after courtesans. The artist set this scene on a veranda, giving a view of a garden in fine weather. A courtesan lowers her unbound hair into a lacquered water basin while an attendant holds a lacquered water container. The square tray in the foreground holds combs and accessories for creating the courtesan's elaborate coiffure.
label: Provenance
content: To 1898
label: Provenance
content: Edward S. Hull Jr., New York to 1898 [1]
label: Provenance
content: From 1898 to 1919
label: Provenance
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Edward S. Hull Jr. in 1898 [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] See Original Kakemono List, L. 169, 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
label: Provenance
content: 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.
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: Exhibition History
content: Life and Leisure: Everyday Life in Japanese Art (August 14, 2004 to February 20, 2005)
label: Exhibition History
content: Japanese Ukiyo-e Painting (May 2, 1973 to July 1, 1974)
label: Exhibition History
content: Centennial Exhibition, Galleries 3 and 4 (February 25, 1956 to January 1, 1963)
label: Exhibition History
content: Untitled Exhibition, Japanese Art (October 3, 1947 to February 25, 1956)
label: Exhibition History
content: Untitled Exhibition, Japanese Screens and Scrolls, 1946 (April 30, 1946 to October 3, 1947)
label: Exhibition History
content: Untitled Exhibition, Japanese Screens and Scrolls (April 5, 1933 to December 8, 1941)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Edward S. Hull Jr. (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: bathing
label: Topic
content: woman
label: Topic
content: Japan
label: Topic
content: ukiyo-e
label: Topic
content: kakemono
label: Topic
content: Japanese Art
label: Topic
content: attendant
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: F1898.109
objectType: label: Type
content: Painting
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: Ink and color on paper
label: Dimensions
content: H x W (image): 80.9 × 28.7 cm (31 7/8 × 11 5/16 in)