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A Leading Courtesan (Seirôkun), from the series Contest of Contemporary Beauties of the Pleasure Quarters (Tôsei yûri bijin awase)


「当世遊里美人合 青楼君」
Torii Kiyonaga (Japanese, 1752–1815)
Japanese
Edo period
about 1781 (An'ei 10/Tenmei 1)

Medium/Technique Woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper
Dimensions Vertical ôban; 37.9 x 25 cm (14 15/16 x 9 13/16 in.)
Credit Line William Sturgis Bigelow Collection
Accession Number11.13963
NOT ON VIEW
ClassificationsPrints

Catalogue Raisonné Chiba Museum, Torii Kiyonaga (2007), list #1-1, reference photo p. 88 (this impression); Ukiyo-e shûka 2 (1985), list #3.1; Hirano, Kiyonaga (1939), #327, pl. LI
Signed Kiyonaga ga
清長画
ProvenanceBy 1911, purchased by William Sturgis Bigelow (b. 1850 - d. 1926), Boston [see note 1]; 1911, gift of Bigelow to the MFA. (Accession Date: August 3, 1911)

NOTES:
[1] Much of Bigelow's collection of Asian art was formed during his residence in Japan between 1882 and 1889, although he also made acquisitions in Europe and the United States. Bigelow deposited many of these objects at the MFA in 1890 before donating them to the Museum's collection at later dates.