"So": A Coquettish Woman, from the series "Tales of Ise in Fashionable Brocade Pictures (Furyu nishiki-e Ise monogatari)"

Issued around 1767, this Katsukawa Shunsho print belongs to the series Furyu nishiki-e Ise monogatari, or Tales of Ise in Fashionable Brocade Pictures, which translated the classical episodes of the tenth-century literary anthology into contemporary Edo figures. Each sheet in the series is keyed to a syllable of the iroha syllabary, and this design, marked with the syllable so, depicts a coquettish young woman in modish dress. The convention of mitate, or playful parody, allowed Shunsho to clothe the courtly characters of classical literature in the fashions and attitudes of his own day, producing images that flattered the literary sophistication of Edo print buyers while showcasing the latest trends in textile design. Although best known as a yakusha-e specialist, Shunsho also produced bijinga and other genres, and the Furyu nishiki-e Ise monogatari series demonstrates the breadth of his output beyond actor portraiture. The early color printing of the late 1760s permitted increasingly elaborate patterning, and this sheet showcases the rapid maturation of Edo ukiyo-e nishiki-e technique. As founder of the Katsukawa school, Shunsho trained pupils who carried his innovations forward, but he also engaged with the broader visual conventions of his contemporaries Suzuki Harunobu and Isoda Koryusai in bijinga production. This impression is held by the Art Institute of Chicago. The print contributes to understanding Shunsho's full artistic range and the inventive ways in which Edo printmakers reanimated classical Japanese literature for an expanding popular audience.