鳥文斎栄之画　「青楼美人六花仙　丁子屋雛鶴鸖」|The Courtesan Hinazuru of the Chōjiya Brothel (Chōjiya Hinazuru), from the series Beauties of the Pleasure Quarters as Six Floral Immortals (Seirō bijin rokkasen)

Chōbunsai Eishi

ca. 1795 · Woodblock print; ink and color on paper · Asian Art

鳥文斎栄之画　「青楼美人六花仙　丁子屋雛鶴鸖」|The Courtesan Hinazuru of the Chōjiya Brothel (Chōjiya Hinazuru), from the series Beauties of the Pleasure Quarters as Six Floral Immortals (Seirō bijin rokkasen) — Chōbunsai Eishi

At the Chōjiya (House of the Cloves) brothel in Yoshiwara, more than a half dozen courtesans over the course of successive generations styled themselves “Hinazuru” (literally, “baby crane”). The title of this series includes the phrase rokkasen, which sounds like it should mean Six Poetic Immortals, but the character for “poetry” has been playfully substituted with the one for “flower,” suggesting that the women of the pleasure quarters are being compared to beautiful flowers. Each print in this series has a different flower in the title cartouche; here, a peony is included.

Artist: Chōbunsai Eishi
Date: ca. 1795
Medium: Woodblock print; ink and color on paper
Culture: Japan
Department: Asian Art
Credit line: Henry L. Phillips Collection, Bequest of Henry L. Phillips, 1939

鳥文斎栄之画 「青楼美人六花仙 丁子屋雛鶴鸖」|The Courtesan Hinazuru of the Chōjiya Brothel (Chōjiya Hinazuru), from the series Beauties of the Pleasure Quarters as Six Floral Immortals (Seirō bijin rokkasen)

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鳥文斎栄之画　「青楼美人六花仙　丁子屋雛鶴鸖」|The Courtesan Hinazuru of the Chōjiya Brothel (Chōjiya Hinazuru), from the series Beauties of the Pleasure Quarters as Six Floral Immortals (Seirō bijin rokkasen)