Courtesans in an Iris Garden

late 18th century

Not on view

This triptych recalls one of the most popular episodes from the tenth-century literary classic, the Ise monogatari (The Tales of Ise), a series of poems on love and journeying accompanied by brief textual notes. This episode tells of a young aristocrat who happens upon a place called Eight Bridges, where a river branches into eight channels, each spanned by a bridge. Admiring the lush growth of irises, he composes a poem of five lines, each beginning with one syllable of the Japanese word for iris, which immortalized the flower's association with the place. The poem expresses his longing for a loved one left behind in the capital:

I have a beloved wife,
Familiar as the skirt
Of a well-worn robe,
And so this distant journeying
Fills my heart with grief.

Artwork Details

Title: Courtesans in an Iris Garden
Artist: Katsukawa Shunchō (Japanese, active ca. 1783–95)
Period: Edo period (1615–1868)
Date: late 18th century
Culture: Japan
Medium: Triptych of woodblock prints; ink and color on paper
Dimensions: Image (each): 15 × 10 in. (38.1 × 25.4 cm)
Classification: Prints
Credit Line: The Howard Mansfield Collection, Purchase, Rogers Fund, 1936
Object Number: JP2663
Curatorial Department: Asian Art

More Artwork

By Katsukawa Shunchō

In the same medium

From the same time and place

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Three Women at the Base of a Pine Tree, Katsukawa Shunchō Japanese, Woodblock print; ink and color on paper, Japan — Three Women at the Base of a Pine Tree
Katsukawa Shunchō
ca. 1790

The Twelfth Month: December, Katsukawa Shunchō Japanese, Woodblock print; ink and color on paper, Japan — The Twelfth Month: December
Katsukawa Shunchō
1780–1795

Three Women on a Bridge, Katsukawa Shunchō Japanese, Woodblock print; ink and color on paper, Japan — Three Women on a Bridge
Katsukawa Shunchō
ca. 1785

Two Women Accompanied by a Maid, Katsukawa Shunchō Japanese, Woodblock print; ink and color on paper, Japan — Two Women Accompanied by a Maid
Katsukawa Shunchō
1780–1795

Beauty Looking at the Moon, Katsukawa Shunchō Japanese, Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk, Japan — Beauty Looking at the Moon
Katsukawa Shunchō
18th century

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