17th Century Japanese Beauty in the Rain With an Open Umbrella

Details

Description

This piece is an 18th-century Japanese woodblock print (ukiyo-e) by Isoda Koryūsai (礒田 湖龍齋, active c. 1769–1788), a celebrated master … Read more This piece is an 18th-century Japanese woodblock print (ukiyo-e) by Isoda Koryūsai (礒田 湖龍齋, active c. 1769–1788), a celebrated master of the Edo period known for his depictions of stylish urban figures.

Key Details of the Print
Artist Signature: Signed at the bottom right as 湖龍齋畫 (Koryūsai ga), which translates to "Drawn by Koryūsai."

Format: Hashira-e (柱絵, "pillar print") — a narrow, vertical format designed specifically to mount on structural wooden pillars inside traditional Japanese homes.

Subject: An elegantly clad youth or young woman wearing high wooden clogs (geta), a dark outer garment (haori/kimono), and a black cloth head covering (zukin). The figure is opening a blue-and-white striped paper umbrella (wagasa) beneath the drooping fronds of a plantain/banana tree (bashō).

Period & Aesthetics: Created during the mid-to-late Edo period (1770s). The scene exemplifies bijin-ga (pictures of beauties) or refined fashion prints (fūzoku-ga), featuring flowing line work and subtle earth/mineral pigments characteristic of Koryūsai’s style. See less