Parody of courtly insect hunt

Chōbunsai Eishi's Parody of courtly insect hunt, dated to 1786 and preserved in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago, transposes a refined Heian-era diversion into the contemporary world of Edo bijin-ga. The classical aristocratic pastime of mushi-erabi, in which courtiers gathered autumn insects to enjoy their songs, is here reimagined through the figures of modern beauties, a witty visual joke known as mitate that was a signature strategy of the Chobunsai school. Eishi's training under the Kano master Eisen'in Michinobu, gained during his early service in the studio of the shogun Tokugawa Ieharu, lends the composition a measured elegance uncommon in popular print design. The figures are tall and willowy, their proportions stretched in the slender canon Eishi would refine through the 1780s, and their robes fall in long unbroken curves that emphasize lyrical line over anatomical mass. Color is restrained, with patterned textiles set against open ground in the manner pioneered by Torii Kiyonaga, whose influence Eishi absorbed before developing his own cooler, more aristocratic idiom. The subject is characteristic of Eishi's earliest dated prints, in which he draws repeatedly on classical literature and courtly ritual to dignify the everyday figures of the Yoshiwara and the merchant quarters. As an example of late eighteenth-century Edo bijin-ga produced at the moment Eishi was emerging as a print designer, the sheet rewards study for its blend of samurai-class education and ukiyo-e wit. The museum record at the Art Institute of Chicago documents the impression, its date, and its place within his early output.