(act. 1790-1799)
COURTESANS CELEBRATING THE EBISU FESTIVAL, 1796/97
Colour woodblock print, right sheet of a triptych. Signed Eishi ga, seal of the publisher Iwatoya, censor’s seal kiwame.
Fine impression, colour partly faded, two wormholes restored; 370 x 255 mm.
PROVENANCE: red seal on verso, S. M. Shiba (?)
See, for the full triptych, Klaus J. Brandt, Hosoda Eishi, 1976-1829: Der Japanische Maler und Holzschnittmeister und Seine Schuler, Stuttgart, 1977; no 454, A 94, illustrated.
A pupil of Hosoda Eishi, Eisho was the most prolific artist of prints of women among Eishi's pupils. Eisho's forte was bust portraits of courtesans, and in comparison with Eishi his women are homely and sweet. Eisho’s work is assumed to have been in competition with that of Utamaro, who was known for his vertical okubi-e bust prints in the genre of portraits of beautiful women. Prints by him ceased appearing around 1801, the same year Eishi gave up print designing for painting. Eisho produced few paintings, and his reasons for giving up printmaking are unknown.