Tsukasa and Other Courtesans of the Ogiya Watching the Autumn Moon Rise Over Rice Fields from a Balcony in the Yoshiwara

Date: 1799
Medium: Surimono; color woodblock print
Dimensions: Sheet: 56.6 x 21 cm (22 5/16 x 8 1/4 in.)
Country / context: Japan
Movement / tradition: Japanese art and printmaking
Collection: The Cleveland Museum of Art
Attribution / role: Museum attribution
Pathway: Japanese art and printmaking ↗

FROM THE MUSEUM

Gomeirō is another name for the fashionable teahouse Ōgi-ya (House of Fans) in the Yoshiwara district of Edo (present-day Tokyo). Two courtesans, each attended by a geisha and a shinzō (apprentice to a courtesan) view a full autumn moon as it rises over the surrounding paddy fields. The elegance of the women's flowing robes and the serenity of the evening with a full silver moon contribute to the poetic atmosphere of this surimono, a privately commissioned print usually accompanied by text—here, a poem, which reads:What liveliness! Geisha, shinzō, and jesters fill the room, all guests of the moon.

Collection text · The Cleveland Museum of Art · CC0

Place in the artist’s career

Compare the intimate figures and balcony setting of the 1799 print with Red Fuji’s large, simplified mountain and restricted colour contrasts. The later poetry print returns to narrative through a more expansive landscape. All three are collaborative colour woodblocks: a change of subject or scale does not necessarily mean a change of medium.