Bijin $& Koi_Bijin_Beauty and carp_Japanese_painting_Dr Gary Hickey

This work by an unnamed Ukiyo-e (‘Pictures of the Floating World’) School-influenced artist depicts a beautiful high-ranking courtesan, identified as such by her elaborate hairstyle with its ostentatious display of tortoise shell hairpins and combs as well as by her obi sash tied in front, a convention assumed by women of this profession. The painting is in the genre known as ‘pictures of beautiful women’ (bijin-ga). She is reading a letter whilst seated on a huge carp, a subject derived from a classical theme.

For their prints and paintings Ukiyo-e artists would often draw upon subjects from classical Japanese and Chinese literature or art. One such classical subject derived from the Chinese classics was that ofthe Taoist immortal Qin Gao who is known in Japanese as Sennin and is often depicted riding a carp. He is renowned as a Taoist magician who had become immortal. Legend states that one day he rode into a magical lake on the back of a dragon only to emerge later on the back of a carp. This subject has been portrayed by artists of different Japanese painting schools. Ukiyo-e artists would often parody such classical subjects by depicting them as contemporary events or figures in what are known as ‘parody pictures’ (mitate-e). In this mitate-eSennin is shown as a beautiful woman with the immortal’s usual scholar cap here replaced by the elaborate coiffure of a courtesan. Identifying the source of such imagery would have provided the Japanese connoisseur with the opportunity to demonstrate his intellectual prowess.

Another common convention of Ukiyo-e was to add erotic interest to their depictions by alluding to a lovers tryst. In conventional depictions of carp they are usually paired with a red carp representing the female and a black carp the male. Sennin is usually shown mounted on a red carp but in this painting the artist has coloured his carp black, which is contrast with the red highlights seen in the woman’s costume reverses the traditional pairing to add libidinous interest.

Although this work, with its emphasis on details of costume and hairstyle, follows the typical conventions of Ukiyo-e bijin-ga the softer rendition of facial features with oval face has more in common with the early twentieth century female beauties seen in the print genre known as kuchi-e (literally, 'mouth pictures'). Many painters of the Taisho (1912-26) and Showa (1926–1989)periods such as Kiyokata Kaburagi (1878-1972), who both painted and produced kuchi-e, reflected this taste in female beauty. The shared characteristics seen in this painting suggests that it is a work from this period by one such artist.

References & Further Reading

Japan Architecture and Art Network Users System at http://www.aisf.or.jp/~jaanus/

For an image of Sennin riding a carp by the Muromach period Zen artist andmonkSesson Shukei see Kyoto National Museum collection at, http://www.kyohaku.go.jp/eng/syuzou/index.html