The Courtesan Hanahito of the Ogiya and attendants Sakura and Momiji, from the series "Beauties of the Five Festivals (Bijin gosekku)"

Issued as part of Ichirakutei Eisui's series Beauties of the Five Festivals (Bijin gosekku), this oban color woodblock print held by the Art Institute of Chicago shows the courtesan Hanahito of the Ogiya in the company of her young attendants Sakura and Momiji, whose names mean cherry blossom and maple leaf. The composition departs from the strict okubi-e half-length to include the diminutive figures of the kamuro at the courtesan's side, a convention that emphasized the high rank of the oiran by depicting her retinue. Eisui places the three figures in close proximity, their kimonos overlapping to form a single decorative mass against the print's pale ground, while a cartouche identifies the sitter, her house, and the series. The Ogiya was, along with the Chojiya and the Matsubaya, one of the most celebrated brothels of the Yoshiwara, and the prominence of its courtesans in late-Kansei bijin-ga reflects the publishing market's appetite for portraits of the quarter's most famous personalities. The Art Institute's impression demonstrates the careful color balance and restrained line that distinguish the Chobunsai Eishi school from the more sensuous bijin-ga of contemporaries such as Kitagawa Utamaro and Eishosai Choki.