CC0 · no rights reserved
Seven Wise Women of the Pleasure Quarters
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
The courtesan standing at the center of this print holds a writing brush. She is identified by the fan in her left hand, which has a poem signed Hanaōgi, or Flower-Fan.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit lineSeven Wise Women of the Pleasure Quarters (青楼志知賢女), c. mid 1780s. Katsukawa Shunshō (Japanese, 1726–1792). Color woodblock print; sheet: 24.8 x 36.6 cm (9 3/4 x 14 7/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Bequest of James Parmelee, 1940.1022
Similar works
The Courtesan Wakakusa of the Chōjiya Brothel, and Attendants Asano and Midori, from the series “A Pattern Book of the Year’s First Designs, Fresh as Spring Herbs” (Hinagata wakana no hatsumoyō)
The Courtesan Takigawa of the Ogiya with Her Attendants Onami and Menami, from the series "Models for Fashion: New Designs as Fresh as Young Leaves (Hinagata wakana no hatsu moyo)"
The Sixth Month (Minazuki): Nioteru of the Ogiya, from the series "Models for Fashion: New Designs as Fresh as Young Leaves (Hinagata wakana no hatsu moyo)"
The Courtesan Maizumi of the Daimonjiya with Her Attendants Shigeki and Naname, from the series "Models for Fashion: New Designs as Fresh as Young Leaves (Hinagata wakana no hatsu moyo)"
Actors Iwai Hanshirô IV, Ichikawa Monnosuke II, and Sakata Hangorô III, in “Snowflakes: Raising the Standard at Izu” (“Mutsu no Hana Izu no Hataage”)
Sugawara of the Tsuruya with Attendants Mumeno and Takeno