Skip to main content

This auction has ended. View lot details

You may also be interested in

Own a similar item?

Submit your item online for a free auction estimate.

Property of various owners
Lot 2077

Kawanabe Kyosai (1831-1889)
Beauty and Emma-O

20 March 2012, 13:00 EDT
New York

Sold for US$3,125 inc. premium

Own a similar item?

Submit your item online for a free auction estimate.

How to sell

Looking for a similar item?

Our Japanese Art specialists can help you find a similar item at an auction or via a private sale.

Find your local specialist

Ask about this lot

Kawanabe Kyosai (1831-1889)

Beauty and Emma-O
Hanging scroll, ink and colors on silk; a King of Hell holds up a mirror, looking gleefully down at the courtesan and attendant reflected on it; signed Seisei Kyosai ga and sealed Ichiji sen shi

With wood box inscribed Kyosai sensei jigoku dayu no zu and with lot tag 48
48 1/2 x 19 1/2in (123.2 x 49.5cm)

Footnotes

Provenance: Baron Honda, sold Kanazawa Bijutsu Club, 1936

Published: Tokyo Honda Danshaku ke Hayashi ke/Zohin nyusatsu mokuroku (Baron Honda Family and Hayashi Family/catalogue of collection), Showa 11 (1937), Kanazawa Bijutsu Kurabu.

Kyosai is known for his lively compositions and virtuoso draftsmanship. His life straddled both the Edo and Meiji periods and was also popular as a caricaturist despite his multiple arrests by the shogunate and the new government. He made several paintings based on similar subject matter – the King of Hell ready to hand out punishments to sinners. The large figure in the background is the King of Hell, symbolized by the character "O" (king) in his crown. The sinner awaiting punishment is shown reflected in his mirror, revealing the wrong-doings that led the deceased to his realm. In this painting expression on the face of the woman is somber, and her hair disheveled, yet she is dressed in beautifully decorated robes. The obi tied in the front indicates she had been a courtesan in her lifetime. Perhaps the apsara or heavenly deity shown on her obi is a symbol of repentance as she is about to face her fate.

The title on the box and the catalogue entry for the Bijutsu Club sale identifies this painting as Jigoku daiyu (Hell Courtesan), a subject for which Kyosai was well known.

Additional information

Bid now on these items

A STONEWARE FIGURE OF AN ONI SUPPORTING A CLOUD Japan, Edo period,

A PAIR OF MIYAO BRONZE FIGURES Japan, By the Miyao workshop, Meiji period, late 19th century,

THREE BAMBOO FLOWER BASKETS Taisho (1912-1926) or Showa (1926-1989) era, 20th century

OKAMOTO RYŌZAN FOR THE YASUDA COMPANY A Small Ceramic Vase and Cover Meiji era (1868-1912), circa 1900

A GROUP OF FOUR JAPANESE BRONZES Meiji era (1868-1912), late 19th/early 20th century,

An Arita blue and white porcelain plate, Kanbun (1663–1673) or Enpô Era (1673 - 1681)

A rare Arita rectangular sander, circa 1680-1700

A SMALL LACQUER FAN-SHAPED KŌBAKO (INCENSE CONTAINER) Edo period (1615-1868), 19th century,

A BOXWOOD OKIMONO OF TWO MONKEYS HANGING FROM A BRANCH Japan, 20th century,

A RECTANGULAR MIXED-METAL INLAID BOX WITH TIGER MOTIF Japan, 20th century,

A POLYCHROME WOOD CARVING OF RANRYO-O, THE PRINCE OF LANLING Japan, 19th century

A BRONZE FIGURE OF A RECUMBENT LION Japan, Meiji period, late 19th century,

TWO ZUSHI (PORTABLE SHRINES) Edo period (1615-1868) or Meiji era (1868-1912), 19th century,

A LARGE STONEWARE PLATTER Bizen Ware Showa (1926-1989) or Heisei (1989-2019) era, 20th/21st century

A NEGORO LACQUER CUP STAND AND A TEABOWL STAND Japan, Muromachi and Momoyama period,

ELEVEN KISERUZUTSU PIPE CASES Japan, 19th century,

EIGHT INRO Japan, 19th - 20th century,

A WOOD BOKUTO IN THE FORM OF A COILED DRAGON Japan, Meiji period, 19th/20th century,

A SMALL LACQUER BOX Meiji (1868-1912) or Taisho (1912-1926) era, early 20th century,

SEVEN DECORATIVE VESSELS AND ACCESSORIES China and Japan, mostly 19th century,

TWO CLOISONNE-ENAMELED RECTANGULAR BOXES Japan, late 19th century,

FOUR CERAMIC CUP STANDS AND A KOGO Japan, 19th/20th century