Height: 75 centimetres

Width: 30 centimetres

Clark 1992

As so often in late seventeenth- and early eighteenth-century paintings, the courtesan wears kimonos in two layers, with one sleeve of the over-kimono shrugged off and hanging down to display the pattern of the robe underneath. Here the pale blue and white over-kimono, decorated with large blue chrysanthemums (suggesting autumn) contrasts strikingly with the scarlet under-kimono with a design of dwarf bamboo in the snow (representing winter). The whole composition is enlivened by Chikanobu's habitual use of dancing outlines -particularly on the flouncing 'obi' - which accord well with the brilliant colouring in high-quality pigments. The face has the same sweetly smiling expression as is found in all works by this master.

Literature: 'Kokka', 42, 1893, colour woodblock facsimile facing p. 114. Morrison, Arthur. 'The Painters of Japan'. Vol. 2, London, 1911, p. 31. '(Hizo) Ukiyo-e taikan' ('Ukiyo-e Masterpieces in European Collections'), ed. Narazaki Muneshige. Vol. 1, Tokyo, Kodansha, 1987, no. 103.