Wisteria Maiden, Tsukioka Settei | Mia

young woman wearing black kimono with red under layer exposed; looking down towards PL; standing near branches of white wisteria; Japanese inscription at top — Wisteria Maiden, second half 18th century
Tsukioka Settei
Ink and color on silk
Gift of the Clark Center for Japanese Art & Culture 2013.29.154
Not on View
The Wisteria Maiden was a favorite subject of Ōtsue, folk paintings made in the town of Ōtsu. The paintings were believed to have auspicious properties; those hoping for a good match in marriage might buy a picture of the Maiden. The character later appeared in kabuki theater and was so popular that an entire play was eventually written around her. This classical depiction shows the Maiden as a beautiful young woman, or bijin, dancing with a wisteria branch over her shoulder. Settei, an Osaka artist, was famous for his delicately painted bijin and erotic imagery. The calligraphic inscription, by the Osaka kyōka poet Senkatei Karitsu (1748–1789), indicates that Settei painted the beauty in the spirit of Matabei’s brush, a reference to the legendary founder of Ōtsue and ukiyo-e.

file_download

Details

Title: Wisteria Maiden
Dated: second half 18th century
Artist: Tsukioka Settei
Nationality: Japanese
Artist Life: 1710 - 1786
Role: Artist
Gallery: Not on View
Department: Asian Art
Dimension: 32 3/4 × 11 11/16 in. (83.19 × 29.69 cm) (image)63 × 15 15/16 in. (160.02 × 40.48 cm) (without rollers)
Credit: Gift of the Clark Center for Japanese Art & Culture
Accession Number: 2013.29.154
Medium: Ink and color on silk
Country: Japan
Century: Nikuhitsu ukiyo-e
Rights: Public Domain
Classification: Paintings; Calligraphy
Object Name: Hanging scroll
Wikipedia: Cite this information
Metadata: Click here to see the machine readable JSON data that underpins this page.
Curator Approved: This record has been reviewed by our curatorial staff but may be incomplete. These records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about this object, please email collectionsdata@artsmia.org.

Does something look wrong with this image? Let us know

Zoom in on the left to the detail you'd like to save. Click 'Save detail' and wait until the image updates. Right click the image to 'save image as' or copy link, or click the image to open in a new tab.