Courtesans of the Yadaya, from the book "Mirror of Beautiful Women of the Pleasure Quarters (Seiro bijin awase sugata kagami)," vol. 1

Although Katsukawa Shunsho is best known as the reformer of Edo ukiyo-e yakusha-e, he also produced sustained bodies of bijin-ga work, and this sheet from Seiro bijin awase sugata kagami ("Mirror of Beautiful Women of the Pleasure Quarters"), volume 1, is a leading example. Published in 1776 as a multi-volume printed book in collaboration with Kitao Shigemasa, the project portrays named courtesans of the Yoshiwara licensed quarter, here those of the Yadaya house. The figures are arranged in a softly grouped composition that lets the reader compare hairstyles, robe patterns, and the elaborate sashes tied in front that signaled their rank. Shunsho's drawing is more restrained than the actor prints for which the Katsukawa school is famous, with long, even lines describing the tall, slightly elongated figure type that would influence later bijin-ga masters including Torii Kiyonaga. Color in the original edition was kept deliberately spare, allowing the kimono patterns to read clearly against the page. The book functioned both as an aesthetic object and as a kind of illustrated guide to the Yoshiwara, giving customers and armchair connoisseurs alike a way to learn the famous women of each house. The Art Institute of Chicago preserves impressions from this important publication, which documents the role the Katsukawa school played beyond yakusha-e in shaping Edo ukiyo-e's visual record of the pleasure quarters and the women who lived and worked there.