The Courtesan Hinazuru of the Chojiya and Her Attendants

An [oban](/glossary/oban) print in the Art Institute of Chicago, dated to the early 1790s, this is the right sheet of a [triptych](/glossary/triptych) depicting Hinazuru, a top-ranked courtesan of the Chōjiya brothel, in procession with her attendants. The Chōjiya was one of the leading houses of the Yoshiwara, and Hinazuru a recurring subject of late-Kansei celebrity prints. The right sheet of a triptych in the Edo-period print tradition typically carries the lead figure and provides the principal visual anchor of the composition; Chōki uses this convention to place Hinazuru herself slightly off-center, her kamuro attendants gathered around her with the careful, hierarchical staging that characterized real-life oiran processions. Top-ranked courtesans always traveled with two young kamuro in public, and the trio operated as a recognized visual unit; prints documenting the relationship were prized by buyers who could identify the named figures. The print is among Chōki's more architectural compositions and demonstrates his skill at multi-figure organization beyond the single-sheet portrait, with the long verticals of standing figures balanced against the horizontal stretch of the triptych format.