Artist: Chōbunsai Eishi (Japanese, 1756-1829)
Title: Beauties on a Pleasure Boat on the Sumida River
Date: ca. 1792-93
Medium: Full color woodblock print; ink and color on paper
Publisher: Nishimuraya Yohachi
Gift of Dr. Cecilia Segawa Seigle

Nine fashionable ladies relax aboard a pleasure boat. Mimeguri Shrine is visible on the far bank. This famous Shinto shrine, located on the Sumida River in the city of Edo, appears in many ukiyo-e prints, and would have been recognizable to contemporary viewers. At the center of the boat, a high-ranking young lady receives a sake cup. Two women play drums and a girl looks on while a dancer strikes a pose at the bow of the boat. The Sasarindō crest on the boat suggests that these figures are idealized portraits of members of a samurai family. This print may commemorate the coming-of-age of the young lady at center, or another important occasion.

Chōbunsai Eishi was one of the preeminent designers of bijinga, or pictures of beauties. Eishi developed his bijinga brand alongside other specialists of the genre, such as Torii Kiyonaga and Kitagawa Utamaro. Eishi designed many deluxe, multi-sheet compositions, including variations on the “pleasure boat” theme. This triptych, rich in detail and located in a specific landscape, invites access to a moment in the life of elegant ladies, even as the design is an artistic invention. Compositions such as this make Eishi an early experimenter in the landscape genre.

Another impression of this print is in the MFA, Boston.

Selected Reading

• Klaus Brandt, “Hosoda Eishi, der japanische Maler und Holzschnittmeister und seine Schüler” (PhD diss., Stuttgart, 1977), cat. 147, fig. 208.

Posted by Anna-Claire Stinebring
May 1, 2016