Japanese Shunga fragment of a Nagasaki courtesan with a Dutchman. 1801 attributed to Chokyosai Eiri. British Museum [1600×1081]
by Remote_Finish_9429
Japanese Shunga fragment of a Nagasaki courtesan with a Dutchman. 1801 attributed to Chokyosai Eiri. British Museum [1600×1081]
by Remote_Finish_9429
1 Comment
https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/A_OA-0-99
The scene shows a well-dressed European, surely intended to be a senior Dutch trader, with a Japanese woman, who would be a Nagasaki courtesan. They are both heavily dressed for winter, but she leans out of an open Western-style window, suggesting that they are in the East India Company compound on the island of Dejima. It is elegantly fragranced with burning incense. The European speaks gibberish, while the woman protests, ‘I can’t make out what you’re on about. Push it in tighter! What am I to do?!’