蹄斎北馬筆　五美人図|Five Beauties

Teisai Hokuba

1840 · Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk · Asian Art

The two women on the left play a hand-gesture game called kitsune-ken (fox fists) in which gestures representing a supernatural fox (kitsune) defeat those of a village head (shōya), who defeats a hunter (ryōshi), who in turn defeats the fox. An apprentice courtesan serves tea while a high-ranking courtesan makes a grand entrance. A feast of sashimi and other delicacies sits nearby. Teisai Hokuba, one of the earliest and most talented pupils of Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849), focused his efforts on surimono (privately commissioned woodblock prints), book illustration, and deluxe paintings of beauties like this one. His signature indicates that he was seventy years old when he painted it, near the end of his long career.

Artist

Teisai Hokuba

Date

1840

Medium

Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk

Culture

Japan

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

Gift of Florence and Herbert Irving, 2015