A Courtesan Reading a Letter
1820/25
Medium
Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk
Dimensions
87.5 × 31.1 cm (34 1/2 × 12 1/4 in.)
Classification
hanging scroll
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
24545
Art Historical Context
This elegant hanging scroll by Chôbunsai Eishi captures a quiet, intimate moment as a courtesan pauses to read a letter. Created between 1820 and 1825, the work reflects the refined tastes of Japan’s late Edo period, when images of beautiful women from the pleasure quarters held wide cultural appeal. The vertical format naturally emphasizes the figure’s graceful posture and flowing garments, inviting viewers to share in her private world. Painted in ink and color on silk, the scroll demonstrates the delicate luminosity and subtle gradations possible with this traditional medium. Silk’s smooth...
About the Artist
Chôbunsai Eishi · 1756–1829
Chôbunsai Eishi, born Hosoda Tokitomi in 1756 to a prosperous samurai family of the Fujiwara clan in Edo, inherited a substantial stipend of 500 koku of rice annually. His grandfather had served as the shogunate's Treasury Minister, and upon his father Hosoda Tokiyuki's death in 1772, Eishi became family head while holding a position in Shogun Tokugawa Ieharu's palace from 1781. Unusually for a uk...