Information
Date : c. 1823
Size : O-ban
Impression : Good
Condition : Good
Detail : Slight browning / Restored wormholes
The green color on the lower lip is called "Sasa-Beni," which was popular then.
High-purity Beni, a red pigment extracted from safflower petals, glowed iridescent when dried. But, applying a large amount of Beni was necessary to achieve a beautiful green color. The Beni with such good coloration was expensive, and beautiful green lips were proof of a courtesan of high status. In particular, Komachi-Beni, a high-grade Beni produced in Kyoto, was the object of admiration.
Eisen started painting fragile female beauties like his master, Eizan, but later became popular for his unique and bewitching style.
His paintings are characterized by a six-headed, long-bodied, hunchbacked female figure full of refracted emotions. Eisen portrayed prostitutes in Oka places like Fukagawa and Yoshiwara brothels as women with bewitching and strong-willed looks in their eyes. This work symbolically represents the decadent aesthetic of the late Edo period, the Bunka-Bunsei period, and shows a strong painting style that reflects the state of affairs at the end of the Edo period.