Suzuki Harunobu, Hatsuito of the Yamashiroya Likened to Bush Clover, from Beauties of the Floating World Compared to Flowers
Wade, 1916.1157 · The Cleveland Museum of Art, Open Access (CC0)View original →
Suzuki Harunobu

Hatsuito of the Yamashiroya Likened to Bush Clover, from Beauties of the Floating World Compared to Flowers

1769–70

Current Collection

Cleveland Museum of Art

Cleveland, United States

Medium
color woodblock print
Dimensions
28.7 × 21.8 cm
Status
In Museum Collection
Collect24 Art ID
C24-201038

Courtesan Hatsuito of a brothel named Yamashiroya is likened to autumnal bush clover in this series comparing the qualities of courtesans to flowers. Hatsuito ties her servant’s obi sash while a gibbon emerges from a painting in the room’s viewing alcove to offer a love letter on which Hatsuito’s name appears. Gibbons reaching in vain for the moon’s reflection in water is a common metaphor for the deluded mind, and bush clover in moonlight is a popular seasonal motif. Here, the ideas are combined as the gibbon woos this unattainable beauty.

Provenance

Wade, 1916.1157

Registry history

  • 1769–70 — Recorded in the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art — prints

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