Kiyomori's Daughter Painting a Self-Portrait to Send to Her Mother
Woodblock Print
late 1790s (made)
late 1790s (made)
Artist/Maker | |
Place of origin |
This is a nishiki-e (brocade print), so called because its rich palette of colours is likened to nishiki or silk brocades. Eishi (about 1756-1829) was a follower of Kitagawa Utamaro (1754-1806). He was an artist of elevated samurai rank who abandoned his career as an official painter to become an artist of ukiyo-e (pictures of the Floating World). In this print, the daughter of twelfth-century statesman Taira no Kiyomori writes a letter to her mother. Rather than wearing twelfth-century dress, however, she appears as a fashionable beauty of the late 1700s.
Object details
Category | |
Object type | |
Title | Kiyomori's Daughter Painting a Self-Portrait to Send to Her Mother (assigned by artist) |
Materials and techniques | Colour print from woodblocks |
Brief description | Print: Eishi: 'Kiyomuri's daughter Painting a Self-Portrait to Send to Her Mother', Japanese, late 1790s |
Physical description | This print may be the middle sheet of what was once a triptych; the three works were connected by a yellow cloud configuration (see top section of print). The beauty is depicted with slender proportions, which was a feature of Eishi's work during the latter part of the Kansei era (1789-1801). Oban size. Signature: Eishi zu. Publisher: Nishimuraya Yohachi. Censorship seal: kiwame |
Gallery label |
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Object history | Purchased from Messrs. A. W. Perry & Co., accessioned in 1897. This acquisition information reflects that found in the Asia Department registers, as part of a 2022 provenance research project. |
Summary | This is a nishiki-e (brocade print), so called because its rich palette of colours is likened to nishiki or silk brocades. Eishi (about 1756-1829) was a follower of Kitagawa Utamaro (1754-1806). He was an artist of elevated samurai rank who abandoned his career as an official painter to become an artist of ukiyo-e (pictures of the Floating World). In this print, the daughter of twelfth-century statesman Taira no Kiyomori writes a letter to her mother. Rather than wearing twelfth-century dress, however, she appears as a fashionable beauty of the late 1700s. |
Collection | |
Accession number | E.11-1897 |
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Record created | December 9, 2002 |
Record URL |
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