Selections from Six Houses in Yoshiwara
About This Series
Kitagawa Utamaro's "Selections from Six Houses in Yoshiwara" (Seiro rokkasen, in the most plausible reading of the title group) belongs to the artist's bijin-ga production organized around the named establishments of the licensed quarter. The conceit of the rokkasen, the Six Poetic Immortals codified by Ki no Tsurayuki in the preface to the Kokin wakashu, had long served as a vehicle for ukiyo-e mitate, and Utamaro's series substitutes for the six classical poets a roster of leading Yoshiwara courtesans from the six most celebrated houses of the quarter: the Ogiya, the Matsubaya, the Kadotamaya, the Chojiya, the Tamaya, and the Wakamatsuya, or comparable establishments depending on the specific moment of publication. The series is generally dated to the mid-1790s and was published by one of Utamaro's regular Tsutaya-circle publishers. Each sheet is issued in oban tate-e format and depicts the courtesan in the okubi-e half-length format that the artist had pioneered, with the figure placed against a plain or mica ground that focuses attention on the modulation of facial expression. The cartouche identifies the courtesan by name and house, and the costume is patterned with the seasonal motifs and identifying devices through which the contemporary viewer would read the establishment affiliation. The series operates simultaneously as a literary parody, a fashion record, and a public advertisement for the six houses and their stars. Impressions are catalogued among the Utamaro holdings of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, the British Museum, and the Tokyo National Museum, and the series figures in the standard literature on the artist's mid-1790s named-courtesan production.
Prints in This Series (2)
Frequently Asked Questions
Kitagawa Utamaro's "Selections from Six Houses in Yoshiwara" (Seiro rokkasen, in the most plausible reading of the title group) belongs to the artist's bijin-ga production organized around the named establishments of the licensed quarter. The conceit of the rokkasen, the Six Poetic Immortals codified by Ki no Tsurayuki in the preface to the Kokin wakashu, had long served as a vehicle for ukiyo-e mitate, and Utamaro's series substitutes for the six classical poets a roster of leading Yoshiwara courtesans from the six most celebrated houses of the quarter: the Ogiya, the Matsubaya, the Kadotamaya, the Chojiya, the Tamaya, and the Wakamatsuya, or comparable establishments depending on the specific moment of publication. The series is generally dated to the mid-1790s and was published by one of Utamaro's regular Tsutaya-circle publishers. Each sheet is issued in oban tate-e format and depicts the courtesan in the okubi-e half-length format that the artist had pioneered, with the figure placed against a plain or mica ground that focuses attention on the modulation of facial expression. The cartouche identifies the courtesan by name and house, and the costume is patterned with the seasonal motifs and identifying devices through which the contemporary viewer would read the establishment affiliation. The series operates simultaneously as a literary parody, a fashion record, and a public advertisement for the six houses and their stars. Impressions are catalogued among the Utamaro holdings of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, the British Museum, and the Tokyo National Museum, and the series figures in the standard literature on the artist's mid-1790s named-courtesan production.
The Selections from Six Houses in Yoshiwara series contains 1 prints, created by Kitagawa Utamaro.
The Selections from Six Houses in Yoshiwara series was created by Kitagawa Utamaro (喜多川歌麿).
We currently have 2 of 1 known prints from the Selections from Six Houses in Yoshiwara series indexed in our collection. Browse them all on this page.
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