The Courtesan Karahama of Yamashiroya Performing the Tea Ceremony (from the series Models for Fahions: New Designs as Fresh as Young Leaves)

This Isoda Koryusai print, preserved by the Cleveland Museum of Art under accession 1930.199, depicts the courtesan Karahama of Yamashiroya performing the tea ceremony, drawn from Models for Fashion: New Designs as Fresh as Young Leaves (Hinagata wakana no hatsu moyo). The Yamashiroya was a recognized house of the Yoshiwara, and Karahama's name appears in the title cartouche together with her house identification, in keeping with the documentary protocol of Hinagata Wakana. The composition departs from the strict standing-figure template of much of the series by giving Karahama a specific activity, the formal preparation and serving of matcha, allowing the print to function simultaneously as a named portrait, as a textile catalogue, and as a study of the cultivated accomplishments expected of a high-ranking courtesan. Koryusai surrounds Karahama with the implements of the tea ceremony and arranges her body so that the bowl, the whisk, or the kettle becomes the focus of her attention. Her layered robes and heavy outer over-kimono fill the picture surface with patterned textile in the registers familiar from the standing portraits of Hinagata Wakana, and her face follows the small-mouthed, elongated convention of Koryusai's mature Edo bijin-ga manner. The Cleveland Museum's catalogue preserves the named house, the named courtesan, and the activity, allowing the print to be situated precisely within Koryusai's documentary survey of the licensed quarter.