The Sixth Month (Minazuki): Nioteru of the Ogiya, from the series "Models for Fashion: New Designs as Fresh as Young Leaves (Hinagata wakana no hatsu moyo)"

Isoda Koryusai's print for the Sixth Month (Minazuki), depicting Nioteru of the Ogiya, comes from Models for Fashion: New Designs as Fresh as Young Leaves (Hinagata wakana no hatsu moyo) and is dated 1772 by the Art Institute of Chicago (artwork 21364). The Ogiya was among the most prominent houses of the Yoshiwara, and Nioteru's name appears in the title cartouche together with her house identification, in keeping with the documentary protocol of Hinagata Wakana. The series fuses the named-courtesan portrait with the structure of the calendar, here assigning the high-summer month of Minazuki to a specific woman of a specific house and using her dress as the vehicle for seasonal design. Nioteru stands alone in full length against an unmodeled ground, the standard template that Koryusai refined across the series, and her layered robes and heavy outer over-kimono fill the picture surface with patterned textile. The broad obi is tied prominently in front, and a tall arrangement of pins and combs rises above a face rendered with the small mouth and elongated oval characteristic of the period. The print exemplifies the formula through which Koryusai dominated Edo bijin-ga in the 1770s, combining named identification, house affiliation, calendrical occasion, and textile display within a single sheet preserved in the Art Institute's catalogue.