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Senzan of the Chôjiya, kamuro Isoji and Yasoji

Senzan of the Chôjiya, kamuro Isoji and Yasoji

(Japanese, early 1750s–1806)
(Japanese)
about 1795 (Kansei 7)
Medium/TechniqueWoodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper
DimensionsVertical ôban; 38.4 x 25 cm (15 1/8 x 9 13/16 in.)
Credit LineWilliam Sturgis Bigelow Collection
Accession number11.14401
On View
Not on view
ClassificationsPrints
Description
Utamaro’s tall, slender figures are ideal for modeling gorgeous kimono, such as the robe decorated with peach blossoms and toy dogs that the courtesan Senzan, one of the beauties of the Yoshiwara pleasure quarter, has donned for the Doll Festival. One of her two kamuro (child attendants) holds a doll, and flowering cherry trees (which blossomed shortly after the peach trees) are already in full bloom overhead.
ProvenanceBy 1911, purchased by William Sturgis Bigelow (b. 1850 - d. 1926), Boston [see note 1]; 1911, gift of Bigelow to the MFA. (Accession Date: August 3, 1911)

NOTES:
[1] Much of Bigelow's collection of Asian art was formed during his residence in Japan between 1882 and 1889, although he also made acquisitions in Europe and the United States. Bigelow deposited many of these objects at the MFA in 1890 before donating them to the Museum's collection at later dates.