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Whose sleeves? (Tagasode)
Details
Hasegawa school (Early 17th Century)
Whose sleeves? (Tagasode)
Pair of six-panel screens; ink, color, silver, gold and gold leaf on paper
56¼ x 129 7/8in. (143 x 330cm.) each (2)
Whose sleeves? (Tagasode)
Pair of six-panel screens; ink, color, silver, gold and gold leaf on paper
56¼ x 129 7/8in. (143 x 330cm.) each (2)
Provenance
Kozu Kobunka Kaikan Museum, Kyoto
These paintings evoke the intimate and sensuous world of the pleasure quarters. On the left screen, a young courtesan sits on the verandah of a very luxurious brothel reading a letter from her lover. A young maid waits expectantly behind her, turning to expose an ornately striped kosode, a forerunner of the modern kimono. Blossoming cherry trees, cedars, an azalea bush and pine trees surround a small garden pond. Tiny bits of cut gold leaf are sprinkled on the undulating shoreline and abstract cloud shapes to enhance the sense of all-out extravagance.
The right screen abruptly changes perspective, bringing us indoors and up close for a survey of textiles representing the finest examples of contemporary weaving, embroidery and dyeing. The stylish garments, many embellished with gold leaf, hang suggestively from three clothing stands, two made of lacquer and one at the center made of freshly cut green bamboo. Whose sleeves are they? A pipe and tobacco pouch hanging at the center and divided trousers at the lower right are clues that a man is in the house. In classical Japanese love poetry, the word tagasode (whose sleeves) often refers to the scented sleeves of a lover.
The display of sumptuous garments draped over clothing stands appears as a subject for paintings in the early seventeenth century, but only rarely are figures included. Why certain garments were chosen and grouped together is no longer clear. They may have had special significance that is no longer accessible to us. Textile historians are also quick to point out that artists were not necessarily depicting actual garments. And garments from the seventeenth century are now so rare that it is all but impossible to identify specific techniques of weaving and dyeing shown in a painting. What is certain, however, is that the artist of this pair of screens was obsessive in recreating exquisite details of design and texture.
On the lower bar of the stand at the right of the right screen there is a hakama, a man's split trousers with small geometric pattern, paired with a man's green jacket (haori) with woven peony-scroll design. On the upper bar, to the right, there is a robe with festive red, white and green maple leaves and paulownia replicating embroidery against a cream-colored silk, as well as bands of tie-dye (shibori) punctuated with roundels of applied gold leaf (surihaku). This may be an example of artistic license. The overlapping of tie-dye, a technique that puckers the fabric, and gold leaf, which requires a smooth surface, might not be possible to achieve in one garment. What is also of interest is the artist's attention to correct orientation: the upper half of the garment hangs over the front of the lacquer bar and here the paulownia actually hang upside down, a touch of realism. On the lacquer stand at the far left of this screen there is a garment with bold diagonal strips and delicate gold patterns applied in gold leaf. This may be a man's jacket; the sleeve appears to be attached with a continuous seam. The robe hanging beside it has a band of gold-leaf decoration including paired chrysanthemum and paulownia, a combination originally associated with the Toyotomi clan. Here it is presumably used simply as design. There is a belt attached, which may suggest that this is a child's garment. On the green bamboo stand at the center there are two types of narrow belts, one woven, the other tie-dyed (in the early seventeenth century the width of a woman's belt, or obi, was only about 10 cm).
For a similar pair of screens attributed to an artist of the Hasegawa school in the Nezu Museum, Tokyo, see Takeda Tsuneo et al., Yuraku, Tagasode, in Nihon byobu-e shusei 14 (Tokyo: Kodansha, 1977), pls. 34-36.
These paintings evoke the intimate and sensuous world of the pleasure quarters. On the left screen, a young courtesan sits on the verandah of a very luxurious brothel reading a letter from her lover. A young maid waits expectantly behind her, turning to expose an ornately striped kosode, a forerunner of the modern kimono. Blossoming cherry trees, cedars, an azalea bush and pine trees surround a small garden pond. Tiny bits of cut gold leaf are sprinkled on the undulating shoreline and abstract cloud shapes to enhance the sense of all-out extravagance.
The right screen abruptly changes perspective, bringing us indoors and up close for a survey of textiles representing the finest examples of contemporary weaving, embroidery and dyeing. The stylish garments, many embellished with gold leaf, hang suggestively from three clothing stands, two made of lacquer and one at the center made of freshly cut green bamboo. Whose sleeves are they? A pipe and tobacco pouch hanging at the center and divided trousers at the lower right are clues that a man is in the house. In classical Japanese love poetry, the word tagasode (whose sleeves) often refers to the scented sleeves of a lover.
The display of sumptuous garments draped over clothing stands appears as a subject for paintings in the early seventeenth century, but only rarely are figures included. Why certain garments were chosen and grouped together is no longer clear. They may have had special significance that is no longer accessible to us. Textile historians are also quick to point out that artists were not necessarily depicting actual garments. And garments from the seventeenth century are now so rare that it is all but impossible to identify specific techniques of weaving and dyeing shown in a painting. What is certain, however, is that the artist of this pair of screens was obsessive in recreating exquisite details of design and texture.
On the lower bar of the stand at the right of the right screen there is a hakama, a man's split trousers with small geometric pattern, paired with a man's green jacket (haori) with woven peony-scroll design. On the upper bar, to the right, there is a robe with festive red, white and green maple leaves and paulownia replicating embroidery against a cream-colored silk, as well as bands of tie-dye (shibori) punctuated with roundels of applied gold leaf (surihaku). This may be an example of artistic license. The overlapping of tie-dye, a technique that puckers the fabric, and gold leaf, which requires a smooth surface, might not be possible to achieve in one garment. What is also of interest is the artist's attention to correct orientation: the upper half of the garment hangs over the front of the lacquer bar and here the paulownia actually hang upside down, a touch of realism. On the lacquer stand at the far left of this screen there is a garment with bold diagonal strips and delicate gold patterns applied in gold leaf. This may be a man's jacket; the sleeve appears to be attached with a continuous seam. The robe hanging beside it has a band of gold-leaf decoration including paired chrysanthemum and paulownia, a combination originally associated with the Toyotomi clan. Here it is presumably used simply as design. There is a belt attached, which may suggest that this is a child's garment. On the green bamboo stand at the center there are two types of narrow belts, one woven, the other tie-dyed (in the early seventeenth century the width of a woman's belt, or obi, was only about 10 cm).
For a similar pair of screens attributed to an artist of the Hasegawa school in the Nezu Museum, Tokyo, see Takeda Tsuneo et al., Yuraku, Tagasode, in Nihon byobu-e shusei 14 (Tokyo: Kodansha, 1977), pls. 34-36.
Exhibited
Kozu Kobunka Kaikan Museum, Kyoto, "Shuki tokubetsuten: Kinsei shoki fuzokuga - Genna/Kan'ei ki o chushin ni" (Autumn special exhibition: Genre paintings of the early modern period focusing on the Genna and Kan'ei eras), 1989.11.15-11.25
Hikone Castle Museum, Hikone City, "Hikone byobu to yuraku no sekai/The Hikone Screen and the Pleasure World in Early Modern Japan," 1990.10.27-11.26
Okayama Prefectural Museum of Art, "Momoyama: Nihon bi no zen'ei - kaikan sanshunen kinen tokubetsuten" (Momoyama: Avant garde of Japanese beauty - Special exhibition for the third anniversary of the museum opening), 1991.2.15-3.17
Hyogo Prefectural Museum of History, Himeji City, "Tokubetsuten rakuchu rakugai no puri madonna - Yuraku to fuzokuga junanaseiki" (Special exhibition of Prima donna in "In and around the capital" screens - pastimes and genre paintings in the seventeenth century), 1993.4.24-6.13
Kyoto Cultural Museum, "Kyo no bijinga" (Beauty painting in Kyoto), 1993.9.10-10.11
"Omoshiro no hana no miyako - Rakuchu rakugai zu no jidai" (Amazing and flowering capital - Period of "Scenes In and Around the Capital"), shown at the following venues;
Nihonbashi Mitsukoshi Department Store, Tokyo, 1993.12.28-1994.1.16
Matsuzakaya Museum, Nagoya, 1994.2.10-2.27
Kokura Izumiya Department Store, Kita-Kyushu City, 1994.3.17-3.29
Kozu Kobunka Kaikan Museum, Kyoto, "Shuki tokubetsuten: Egakareta yujo tachi-Kinsei shoki fuzokuga-Nikuhitsu ukiyoe o chushin ni" (Autumn special exhibition: Painted courtesans - Focusing on genre paintings of the early modern period and ukiyo-e paintings), 1995.11.7-11.26
The Tokugawa Art Museum, Nagoya, "Shinkan kaikan jusshunen kinen shuki tokubetsuten: Kabuku bi no sekai - E wa kataru - Itan to kyoraku no ukiyo/Early Seventeenth Century Genre Paintings - The World of Lively Entertainment," 1997.10.4-11.16
Osaka Municipal Museum of Art, "Wa no isho - Aratana motyifu, daitan na dezain/Japanese Design in 1600s," 1998.10.20-11.23
"Edo modo daizukan - Kosode mon'yo ni miru bi no keifu/Edo à la mode - Aesthetic Lineages Seen in Kosode Kimono Motifs," shown at the following venues:
National Museum of Japanese History, Sakura, 1999.10.5-11.28
Suntory Musuem of Art, Tokyo, 1999.12.21-2000.2.6
Hiroshima Prefectural Museum of History, 2000.8.10-10.9
Fukushima Prefectural Museum, 2000.10.28-12.10
Izumo Bunka Denshokan, Izumo City, "Kinsei fuzokuga no sekai - Ustukushii yuri no onna tachi" (World of early-modern genre painting - Beautiful women in the pleasure district), 2000.4.22-6.4
The Metropolitan Museum of Art,New York, "Turning Point: Oribe and the Arts of Sixteenth-Century Japan," 2003.10.21-2004.1.11
Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais, Paris, "Images du Monde Flottant: Peintures et estampes japonaises XVIIe-XVIIIe siècles" (Images of the floating world: Japanese paintings and prints of the 17th-18th centuries), 2004.9.27-2005.1.3
PUBLISHED:
Kozu Kobunka Kaikan Museum, ed., Shuki tokubetsuten: Kinsei shoki fuzokuga - Genna Kan'ei ki o chishin ni (Autumn special exhibition: Genre paintings of the early modern period focusing on the Genna and Kan'ei eras) (Kyoto: Kozu kobunka kaikan, 1989), no. 9.
Hikone Castle Museum, ed., Hikone byobu to yuraku no sekai/The Hikone Screen and the Pleasure World in Early Modern Japan (Hikone City: Hikone Castle Museum, 1990), pl. 21.
Okayama Prefectural Museum of Art, ed., Momoyama: Nihon bi no zen'ei - kaikan sanshunen kinen tokubetsuten (Momoyama: Avant garde of Japanese beauty - Special exhibition for the third anniversary of the museum opening) (Okayama: Okayama Prefectural Museum of Art, 1991), pl. 24.
Kano Hiroyuki, Asobi (Pastimes), vol.1 of Kinsei fuzokuga (Genre paintings in the early modern period) (Kyoto: Shikosha, 1991), pp. 88-95.
Kobayashi Tadashi and Kano Hiroyuki, eds., Kanoha to fuzokuga: Edo no kaiga I (Kano school and genre paintings: Edo-period paintings I), vol. 17 of Nihon bijutsu zenshu (Collection of Japanese art) (Tokyo: Kodansha, 1992), pls. 102-103.
Hyogo Prefectural Museum of History, ed., Tokubetsuten rakuchu rakugai no puri madonna - Yuraku to fuzokuga junanaseiki (Special exhibition of Prima donna in "In and around the capital" screens - Pastimes and genre paintings in the seventeenth century) (Himeji City: Hyogo Prefectural Museum of History, 1993), pl. 32.
Tajima Tatsuya et al., eds., Kyo no bijinga (Beauty painting in Kyoto) (Kyoto: Kyoto Cultural Museum, 1993), pl. 1.
Katarogu hensan iinkai (Catalogue editorial committee), ed., Omoshiro no hana no miyako - Rakuchu rakugai zu no jidai (Amazing and flowering capital - The period of "Scenes In and Around the Capital") (Tokyo: NHK Promotions, 1993), pl. 82.
Kozu Kobunka Kaikan Museum, ed., Shuki tokubetsuten: Egakareta yujo tachi - Kinsei shoki fuzokuga - Nikuhitsu ukiyoe o chushin ni (Autumn special exhibition: Painted courtesans - Focusing on genre paintings of the early-modern period and ukiyo-e paintings) (Kyoto: Kozu kobunka kaikan, 1995), no. 4.
The Tokugawa Art Museum, ed., Shinkan kaikan jusshunen kinen shuki tokubetsuten: Kabuku bi no sekai - E wa kataru - Itan to kyoraku no ukiyo/Early Seventeenth Century Genre Paintings - The World of Lively Entertainment (Nagoya: The Tokugawa Art Museum, 1997), pl. 31.
Sato Miki, "Tagasode zu no seiritsu katei ni kansuru kosatsu/Study on the establishing process of Tagasode," Bigaku 194 (Autumn, 1998): pl. 3.
Osaka Municipal Museum of Art, ed., Wa no isho - Aratana motifu, daitan na dezain/Japanese Design in the 1600s (Osaka: Osaka Municipal Museum of Art, 1998), pl. 11.
National Museum of Japanese History, ed., Edo modo daizukan-Kosode mon'yo ni miru bi no keifu/Edo à la mode - Aesthetic Lineages Seen in Kosode Kimono Motifs (Tokyo: NHK Promotions, 1999), pl. 49.
Izumo Bunka Denshokan and Kozu Kobunka Kaikan Museum, eds., Kinsei fuzokuga no sekai - Utsukushii yuri no onna tachi (World of early-modern genre painting - Beautiful women in the pleasure district) (Izumo City: Izumo bunka denshokan, 2000), pl. 5.
Miyajima Shin'ichi, Fuzokuga no kinsei (The early-modern period of genre painting) (Tokyo: Shibundo, 2004), pl. 28.
Miyeko Murase, ed., Turning Point: Oribe and the Arts of Sixteenth- Century Japan (New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2003), pl. 132.
Hélène Bayou et al., eds., Images du Monde Flottant: Peintures et estampes japonaises XVIIe-XVIIIe siècles (Images of the floating world: Japanese paintings and prints of the 17th-18th centuries) (Paris: Editions de la Réunion des musées nationaux Paris, 2004), pl. 18 a-b.
Hikone Castle Museum, Hikone City, "Hikone byobu to yuraku no sekai/The Hikone Screen and the Pleasure World in Early Modern Japan," 1990.10.27-11.26
Okayama Prefectural Museum of Art, "Momoyama: Nihon bi no zen'ei - kaikan sanshunen kinen tokubetsuten" (Momoyama: Avant garde of Japanese beauty - Special exhibition for the third anniversary of the museum opening), 1991.2.15-3.17
Hyogo Prefectural Museum of History, Himeji City, "Tokubetsuten rakuchu rakugai no puri madonna - Yuraku to fuzokuga junanaseiki" (Special exhibition of Prima donna in "In and around the capital" screens - pastimes and genre paintings in the seventeenth century), 1993.4.24-6.13
Kyoto Cultural Museum, "Kyo no bijinga" (Beauty painting in Kyoto), 1993.9.10-10.11
"Omoshiro no hana no miyako - Rakuchu rakugai zu no jidai" (Amazing and flowering capital - Period of "Scenes In and Around the Capital"), shown at the following venues;
Nihonbashi Mitsukoshi Department Store, Tokyo, 1993.12.28-1994.1.16
Matsuzakaya Museum, Nagoya, 1994.2.10-2.27
Kokura Izumiya Department Store, Kita-Kyushu City, 1994.3.17-3.29
Kozu Kobunka Kaikan Museum, Kyoto, "Shuki tokubetsuten: Egakareta yujo tachi-Kinsei shoki fuzokuga-Nikuhitsu ukiyoe o chushin ni" (Autumn special exhibition: Painted courtesans - Focusing on genre paintings of the early modern period and ukiyo-e paintings), 1995.11.7-11.26
The Tokugawa Art Museum, Nagoya, "Shinkan kaikan jusshunen kinen shuki tokubetsuten: Kabuku bi no sekai - E wa kataru - Itan to kyoraku no ukiyo/Early Seventeenth Century Genre Paintings - The World of Lively Entertainment," 1997.10.4-11.16
Osaka Municipal Museum of Art, "Wa no isho - Aratana motyifu, daitan na dezain/Japanese Design in 1600s," 1998.10.20-11.23
"Edo modo daizukan - Kosode mon'yo ni miru bi no keifu/Edo à la mode - Aesthetic Lineages Seen in Kosode Kimono Motifs," shown at the following venues:
National Museum of Japanese History, Sakura, 1999.10.5-11.28
Suntory Musuem of Art, Tokyo, 1999.12.21-2000.2.6
Hiroshima Prefectural Museum of History, 2000.8.10-10.9
Fukushima Prefectural Museum, 2000.10.28-12.10
Izumo Bunka Denshokan, Izumo City, "Kinsei fuzokuga no sekai - Ustukushii yuri no onna tachi" (World of early-modern genre painting - Beautiful women in the pleasure district), 2000.4.22-6.4
The Metropolitan Museum of Art,New York, "Turning Point: Oribe and the Arts of Sixteenth-Century Japan," 2003.10.21-2004.1.11
Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais, Paris, "Images du Monde Flottant: Peintures et estampes japonaises XVIIe-XVIIIe siècles" (Images of the floating world: Japanese paintings and prints of the 17th-18th centuries), 2004.9.27-2005.1.3
PUBLISHED:
Kozu Kobunka Kaikan Museum, ed., Shuki tokubetsuten: Kinsei shoki fuzokuga - Genna Kan'ei ki o chishin ni (Autumn special exhibition: Genre paintings of the early modern period focusing on the Genna and Kan'ei eras) (Kyoto: Kozu kobunka kaikan, 1989), no. 9.
Hikone Castle Museum, ed., Hikone byobu to yuraku no sekai/The Hikone Screen and the Pleasure World in Early Modern Japan (Hikone City: Hikone Castle Museum, 1990), pl. 21.
Okayama Prefectural Museum of Art, ed., Momoyama: Nihon bi no zen'ei - kaikan sanshunen kinen tokubetsuten (Momoyama: Avant garde of Japanese beauty - Special exhibition for the third anniversary of the museum opening) (Okayama: Okayama Prefectural Museum of Art, 1991), pl. 24.
Kano Hiroyuki, Asobi (Pastimes), vol.1 of Kinsei fuzokuga (Genre paintings in the early modern period) (Kyoto: Shikosha, 1991), pp. 88-95.
Kobayashi Tadashi and Kano Hiroyuki, eds., Kanoha to fuzokuga: Edo no kaiga I (Kano school and genre paintings: Edo-period paintings I), vol. 17 of Nihon bijutsu zenshu (Collection of Japanese art) (Tokyo: Kodansha, 1992), pls. 102-103.
Hyogo Prefectural Museum of History, ed., Tokubetsuten rakuchu rakugai no puri madonna - Yuraku to fuzokuga junanaseiki (Special exhibition of Prima donna in "In and around the capital" screens - Pastimes and genre paintings in the seventeenth century) (Himeji City: Hyogo Prefectural Museum of History, 1993), pl. 32.
Tajima Tatsuya et al., eds., Kyo no bijinga (Beauty painting in Kyoto) (Kyoto: Kyoto Cultural Museum, 1993), pl. 1.
Katarogu hensan iinkai (Catalogue editorial committee), ed., Omoshiro no hana no miyako - Rakuchu rakugai zu no jidai (Amazing and flowering capital - The period of "Scenes In and Around the Capital") (Tokyo: NHK Promotions, 1993), pl. 82.
Kozu Kobunka Kaikan Museum, ed., Shuki tokubetsuten: Egakareta yujo tachi - Kinsei shoki fuzokuga - Nikuhitsu ukiyoe o chushin ni (Autumn special exhibition: Painted courtesans - Focusing on genre paintings of the early-modern period and ukiyo-e paintings) (Kyoto: Kozu kobunka kaikan, 1995), no. 4.
The Tokugawa Art Museum, ed., Shinkan kaikan jusshunen kinen shuki tokubetsuten: Kabuku bi no sekai - E wa kataru - Itan to kyoraku no ukiyo/Early Seventeenth Century Genre Paintings - The World of Lively Entertainment (Nagoya: The Tokugawa Art Museum, 1997), pl. 31.
Sato Miki, "Tagasode zu no seiritsu katei ni kansuru kosatsu/Study on the establishing process of Tagasode," Bigaku 194 (Autumn, 1998): pl. 3.
Osaka Municipal Museum of Art, ed., Wa no isho - Aratana motifu, daitan na dezain/Japanese Design in the 1600s (Osaka: Osaka Municipal Museum of Art, 1998), pl. 11.
National Museum of Japanese History, ed., Edo modo daizukan-Kosode mon'yo ni miru bi no keifu/Edo à la mode - Aesthetic Lineages Seen in Kosode Kimono Motifs (Tokyo: NHK Promotions, 1999), pl. 49.
Izumo Bunka Denshokan and Kozu Kobunka Kaikan Museum, eds., Kinsei fuzokuga no sekai - Utsukushii yuri no onna tachi (World of early-modern genre painting - Beautiful women in the pleasure district) (Izumo City: Izumo bunka denshokan, 2000), pl. 5.
Miyajima Shin'ichi, Fuzokuga no kinsei (The early-modern period of genre painting) (Tokyo: Shibundo, 2004), pl. 28.
Miyeko Murase, ed., Turning Point: Oribe and the Arts of Sixteenth- Century Japan (New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2003), pl. 132.
Hélène Bayou et al., eds., Images du Monde Flottant: Peintures et estampes japonaises XVIIe-XVIIIe siècles (Images of the floating world: Japanese paintings and prints of the 17th-18th centuries) (Paris: Editions de la Réunion des musées nationaux Paris, 2004), pl. 18 a-b.