Kogo no Tsubone, from the series "Framed Pictures of Women for the Katsushika Circle (Katsushikaren gakumen fujin awase)"
- Date:
- c. 1822
- Medium:
- Color woodblock print; shikishiban, surimono
- Source:
- Art Institute of Chicago
From the Katsushikaren gakumen fujin awase, a [surimono](/glossary/surimono) series of Framed Pictures of Women for the Katsushika Circle, this [shikishiban](/glossary/shikishiban) depicts Kogo no Tsubone, the consort of Emperor Takakura whose tragic story is told in the Tale of the Heike. Held by the Art Institute of Chicago and dated to around 1822, the print uses a trompe-l'oeil framing device, rendering the figure as if presented inside a wooden frame mounted on a wall, a conceit that lends the surimono the quality of a precious painting reproduced in miniature. Kogo, who fled the court to live as a recluse before being recalled and ultimately forced to take Buddhist vows, was a recurring subject in both no theater and [ukiyo-e](/glossary/ukiyo-e), embodying the classical themes of female fortitude and courtly melancholy. Gakutei renders her with quiet linear precision against a ground enlivened by metallic pigments, the framing device emphasizing the connoisseurial character of the surimono as an object of intimate display within the Katsushikaren circle.
Woodblock print
Woodblock print
c. 1830/35
Color woodblock print; oban
![Mount Fuji on a Moonlit Night, Kawai Bridge (Tsukiyo no Fuji [Kawaibashi]), from the series "Selection of Views of the Tokaido (Tokaido fukei senshu)" by Kawase Hasui](https://www.artic.edu/iiif/2/d0960668-1e73-339a-b182-fb995a54bff0/full/843,/0/default.jpg)
1947
Color woodblock print; oban
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Kogo no Tsubone, from the series "Framed Pictures of Women for the Katsushika Circle (Katsushikaren gakumen fujin awase)" was created by Yashima Gakutei (八島岳亭) in c. 1822.
Kogo no Tsubone, from the series "Framed Pictures of Women for the Katsushika Circle (Katsushikaren gakumen fujin awase)" depicts mount fuji.
