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Portfolios%3D%22609%22%20and%20Disp_Obj_Type%3D%22Print%22%20and%20Sort_Artist%3D%22Gakutei%22
Print
Woman Playing a Koto
Pentaptych for the Hisakataya Club
Yashima Gakutei, fl. 1815 - 1852
Gakutei
Japan
fl. 1815 - 1852
Male
Designer
8 7/16 x 7 1/4 in. (21.5 x 18.4 cm)
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.
.
sheet
Printer's ink
Printer's ink
ca. 1827
1822
1832
Japanese, Ukiyo-e
Print
The title of this print indicates that it was originally one of a series of five. It appears to pun on the archaic term <em>hisakataya</em>, or "gleaming", a formulaic word used in ancient poetry to modify celestial phenomena such as stars, snow or, as here, falling cherry-blossom petals; and the Hisakata-ya, which was probably the name of the teahouse or restaurant where this particular poetry club met. Hisakataya is also the pen name of one of the two poets whose work is inscribed on the print.
The woman depicted here, perhaps an entertainer at the teahouse, continues the classical tone of the print by playing not a <em>shamisen</em>, the favored instrument of the entertainment world, but rather a <em>koto</em>, preferred by the ancient aristocracy. There are two poems on the <em>koto</em>. The one on the right, written by the poet Kamenoya Osamaru, reads:
<blockquote>Clouds of cherry-blossoms
On this spring day
Conceal the bamboo thicket
From whence come the sounds
Of a jewelled koto.</blockquote>
, Signature: Gakutei hitsu
1997.228
item
Memorial Art Gallery
6/22/2000
97.228DI1
digital image
00/00/00
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Media/images/97.228_A1.jpg
97.228SL1
slide
2 x 2
00/00/00
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Graphics/blank.gif
97.228DI#2
digital image
11/2/2023
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Media/images/97.228_A2.jpg