Allegory of “The Well Curb” from the Tale of Ise

Allegory of The Well Curb from the Tale of Ise, by Chobunsai Eishi (1756-1829), is preserved in the Honolulu Museum of Art (record 3048, archived via ukiyo-e.org). The composition transforms one of the most beloved episodes of the tenth-century Ise monogatari into a present-day Edo bijin-ga. In the original tale, two children measure their heights at the lip of a well and later become lovers, an image celebrated in classical Japanese literature as a symbol of innocent attachment matured into adult longing. Eishi recasts the scene with contemporary figures: tall, slim women in patterned robes stand near a low wooden well, their height comparison preserved as a quiet visual joke and a literary citation at once. His handling reflects his Kano-trained ukiyo-e formation, with steady, calligraphic line work, a controlled palette of soft browns, blacks, and muted reds, and a sense of restrained composition that places the human figures slightly off-center against an uncluttered ground. The print belongs to the yatsushi tradition, in which classical narratives become the framework for fashionable portraits, and would have appealed to buyers who could recognize the Ise reference while enjoying the kimono designs as the latest in Edo style. Honolulu's holding of the sheet documents an impression in reasonable state of preservation, complete with the signature cartouche by which Eishi's works are routinely identified. The design exemplifies the literate, calmly elegant strand of Edo bijin-ga that Eishi developed in the 1790s and that distinguishes his contribution to ukiyo-e from that of his more commercially aggressive contemporaries.