Beauties Parodying the Seven Sages - A Selection of Younger Courtesans (Shichi kenjin yatsushi bijin shinzo zoroe): Momiji of the Echizenya

Momiji of the Echizenya, from Beauties Parodying the Seven Sages: A Selection of Younger Courtesans (Shichi kenjin yatsushi bijin shinzo zoroe), depicts a shinzo of the Echizenya, and is held by the Art Institute of Chicago (reference 101159_526646). Chobunsai Eishi (1756-1829) anchors the series in the named houses of the Yoshiwara so that each parodic portrait functions both as a literary citation, in this case the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove, and as a portrait of a real apprentice courtesan that buyers might encounter in the quarter. Momiji is rendered in the Edo bijin-ga vocabulary that Eishi made his own: tall body, calligraphic line, modest facial features, and kimono patterned in seasonal motifs that play off her name, which means autumn leaves. The flat ground is generous and the printing exact, with key block, outline, and color blocks aligned cleanly. As a Kano-trained ukiyo-e artist who had earlier produced paintings in the official court style, Eishi imported into ukiyo-e a habit of disciplined draftsmanship that distinguished him from contemporaries who specialized in more theatrical effects. The Art Institute of Chicago's impression preserves the cartouche and signature and is part of the museum's strong Eishi holdings, which together with related sheets in the British Museum and the Honolulu Museum of Art allow a coherent view of the series. The print rewards comparison with other shinzo portraits from the same set, since their similarities of pose and palette show how Eishi used a controlled visual grammar to organize a multi-figure parody across many sheets.