A courtesan and her attendant under a cherry tree

A courtesan and her attendant under a cherry tree. Color. Poem. Signature and seal. Paper kakemono.

Maker(s)
Artist: Tawaraya Sori III (fl. ca. late 18th-early 19th century)
Historical period(s)
Edo period, late 18th-early 19th century
Medium
Color on paper
Dimensions
H x W (image): 122.8 × 49.5 cm (48 3/8 × 19 1/2 in)
Geography
Japan
Credit Line
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art Collection
Accession Number
F1898.431
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Painting
Type

Hanging scroll

Keywords
attendant, cherry blossom, cherry tree, courtesan, Edo period (1615 - 1868), Japan, kakemono, tree, ukiyo-e
Provenance

To 1898
Edward S. Hull Jr., New York to 1898 [1]

From 1898 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Edward S. Hull Jr. in 1898 [2]

From 1920
Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]

Notes:

[1] See Original Kakemono and Makimono List, L. 195, pg. 43, as well as Voucher No. 38, November 1898, 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 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.

[2] See note 1.

[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.

Previous Owner(s) and Custodian(s)

Edward S. Hull Jr. (C.L. Freer source)
Charles Lang Freer 1854-1919

Description

A courtesan and her attendant under a cherry tree. Color. Poem. Signature and seal. Paper kakemono.

Inscription(s)

Above the figure of the girl is a comic ode signed Utatsune:

Ka o tomura
Sode no oshisa ni
Furisode no
Kino o shinobu
Hana no shitakage.

Translation:
By the fragrance which lingers about the flowers, I think of the furisode which I saw yesterday.

Published References
  • James T. Ulak, Howard Kaplan, Dr. Julian Raby. Cherry Blossoms. New York, NY, March 3, 2015. .
Collection Area(s)
Japanese Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
CC0 - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0)

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