Konami of Kurahashi-ya

A circa 1825 print in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's collection, this design names Konami of the Kurahashi-ya — the same courtesan house featured in Shigenobu's 1822 Shinmachi nerimono print of Konami — but here in a single-figure identifying portrait dated to about three years later. The pairing of the two Met prints offers an unusual chance to see the same named courtesan at two moments in her career, the earlier in her assigned nerimono role within the procession and the later in a more conventional portrait format outside the festival context. As with the other Osaka identifying portraits in Shigenobu's output, the design functions simultaneously as celebrity portrait, fashion record, and personal souvenir for patrons of the Kurahashi-ya house; the print served as a tangible reminder of a specific woman whose contemporary fame was sustained both by the licensed quarter's internal hierarchies and by the broader Osaka print market. The Met's impression preserves the print in good condition and is catalogued under its identifying title.