Sugawara of the Tsuruya with Attendants Mumeno and Takeno
c. 1787
Medium
Color woodblock print; oban
Dimensions
38.4 × 25.8 cm (15 1/8 × 9 3/4 in.)
Classification
woodblock print
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
87427
Art Historical Context
Chôbunsai Eishi's *Sugawara of the Tsuya with Attendants Mum and Takeno* (c. 1787) is a captivating color woodblock print from Japan's Edo period, capturing a theatrical or narrative scene likely inspired by kabuki drama or historical tales. Rendered in the popular oban format (38.4 × 25.8 cm), it features the figure of Sugawara—possibly referencing the legendary scholar Sugawara no Michizane—at the Tsuruya teah or inn, accompanied by attendants Mumeno and Takeno. Eishi's delicate lines and graceful compositions evoke the elegance of everyday encounters in the "floating world" of urban leisure...
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...