Minneapolis Institute of Art

Courtesan with Sake Cup

Utagawa Toyokuni

Date

c. 1794

Medium

Hanging scroll (nikuhitsu), ink, color, and gofun on silk

Department

Asian Art

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

With her obi tied in front of her body and elaborate coiffure, this woman probably represents a courtesan working in Edo’s licensed pleasure quarter, the Yoshiwara. Slightly tipsy with sake, she coquettishly stifles a laugh as she watches some amusing scene or engages in clever conversation. The red lacquered cup in her left hand is half full, suggesting the party is still going on. Compared to the somewhat static and idealistic portraits produced by early Japanese print artists, this is a much more lively depiction, reflecting the evolving taste for greater realism towards the end of the 18th century. The woman’s semitransparent, loosely woven black kimono suggests that it is summer, and the verse above, written by Shōtoshi, complains of the shortness of summer nights: How quickly the day has broken! Here comes the voice of a cuckoo. A summer night is too brief. Asia

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