Title : The Poetess Izumi Shikibu

Artist : Hosoda Eishi

Date : 1801

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Source : Honolulu Museum of Art
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Description : This print was conserved with the support of the Robert F. Lange Foundation. The print was first published in an album entitled Nishikizuri onna sanjürokkasen (The Thirty-six Immortal Women Poets in Color Prints), an idea inspired by the original selection of thirty-six immortal poets made by the courtier Fujiwara Kintö (966-1041). Each print shows a poetess on the left and her poem reproduced in calligraphy on the right. All prints in the album were designed by Chöbunsai Eishi, who created a number of them with literary themes. His style was elegant, often featuring women in graceful poses. This beautiful print depicts the renowned poetess Izumi Shikibu (ca. 970-ca. 1036). Wearing a twelve-layered, female formal-court dress, she appears as a Heian-period court lady. Her long black hair and eyebrows drawn high on her forehead symbolize the beauty of an ideal aristocratic woman. However, Eishi presents her standing and provocatively looking over her shoulder like an Edo courtesan, which shows how radically this depiction departs from the ancient model where a woman is usually seated. The poem that accompanies the print was composed in honor of Izumi's deceased daughter Koshikibu (?-1025) after Empress Shöshi (988-1074) sent robes to Koshikibu, as she had done for years. Upon seeing Koshikibu's name attached to the robes, Izumi wrote: This name of hers not buried together with her and not decaying underneath the moss oh, seeing it brings such sorrow! (translation by Andrew J. Pekarik)

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