Isoda Koryusai: The Courtesan Tamazusa of Uchida-ya and her Kamuro (Vever Collection)

Artist: Isoda Koryūsai (active ca. 1760s-1780s)
Title: The Courtesan Tamazusa of Uchida-ya with Pipe and her two attendants

Date: ca. 1775

Series: Models for Fashions: New Designs as Fresh as Young Leaves (Hinagata wakana no hatsu moyô)

According to Jack Hillier, this is a portrait of Tamazusa of Uchida-ya. She holds a pipe in one hand, her sleeve covering her hand and her uchikake robe half-sliding from her shoulders. The attitude of her pose is perfectly model-like, and her fashion traverses the centuries. The orange pigment in the work features a lead tan, which has slightly oxidized, as planned. Her robe features a striking design of a Shojo balanced on the rim of a large sake jar that is being lashed by waves. Shojo are sea spirits with red faces and hair and a fondness for alcohol. Her young attendants have  almost-matching robes with wave and net designs. One is seated, and one holds a bird in a cage. Provenance: Henri Vever. 

Condition: Very good impression, color and condition. Printed on a luxurious, heavy paper that is  untrimmed and unbacked. Very nice for its age.

Dimensions: ôban (38.8 x 25.9 cm)
Publisher: Nishimura Eijudo
Literature: See Chapter 4 of Allen Hockley’s “The Prints of Isoda Koryûsai”(2003) for a detailed analysis and examination of this important series. See also Hillier’s “Japanese Prints & Drawings from the Vever Collection”, plate 190, page 176 for an image of this exact print. Signature: Koryusai ga

SKU: KOY026