Kisegawa

The subject of this portrait is Kisegawa, an acclaimed courtesan of the brothel Matsubaya, located in the pleasure quarter in Edo (today’s Tokyo). One of five prints from a series that compares famous women to flowers, Kisegawa’s portrait likens her to the yellow-flowered kerria rose shown in a round panel at the upper right. Inscribed at the top left corner are Kisegawa’s name and the names of her child attendants, Onami and Menami. Studded with decorative pins and other accessories, her hair is arranged in wide arcs to each side of her face, a popular late eighteenth-century style known as “hanging lantern locks” (torobin).