Kitagawa Utamaro (喜多川歌麿) (artist ca 1753 – 1806)
Courtesans Ōi (大井) and Koremitsu (?) of the Ebiya house (海老屋)
ca 1804
9 in x 13.75 in (Overall dimensions) Japanese woodblock print
Signed: Utamaro hitsu (哥麿筆)
Metropolitan Museum of Art - a battered copy - one of the first Japanese prints to enter their collection - go to approximately #84 in the batch One of the courtesans is playing a shamisen while the other who is listening is holding a fan, upside down, which shows part of the crest of Ichikawa Danjūrō VII. Perhaps she was a fan of that young actor who took that name in 1800. Perhaps it is even a bit of an advertisement for him.
beautiful women (bijin-ga - 美人画) (genre)