Kitagawa Utamaro (1754-1806)

Nishi eki ta jirushi (Ta.... of the Western Station) Uchiwa o motsu onna (Woman holding a round fan), from the series Fujin sogaku juttai (Ten types in the physiognomic study of women)

Details

Kitagawa Utamaro (1754-1806)
Nishi eki ta jirushi (Ta.... of the Western Station)

Uchiwa o motsu onna (Woman holding a round fan), from the series Fujin sogaku juttai (Ten types in the physiognomic study of women)
Two prints, the first an okubi-e (large-head portrait) of a courtesan "Ta...", signed Utamaro hitsu and published by Tsuruya Kiemon; and the second a half-length portrait of a woman holding a round fan upside-down, rolling the handle between her hands, white mica ground, signed Somi Utamaro ga (Drawn by Utamaro the physiognomist) and published by Tsutaya Juzaburo--good impressions, faded, soiled, lightly backed, restorations, slightly stained, title cartouche and signature almost gone on the second, losses to mica on the second
oban tate-e: 37.7 x 25.3cm., the first; and 36.5 x 23.6cm., the second (2)

Lot Essay

On the first, in the first printing as here, there is written "Ta.. of the Western Station" in the top right corner as Asano Shugo and Timothy Clark discuss. In the second printing, the title has been carved out. The "Western Station" refers to Naito Shinjuku, the first post-station on the highway leading West out of Edo. All that is known of this beauty is that her name begins with the sound "Ta" and that she is from the Shinjuku quarter. A similar impression is held in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

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