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Dancing Program by Fukagawa and Omoteyama Honmachi Geisha Associations (A Smiling House)

Artist Katsushika Hokusai (Japanese, 1760–1849)
Title Dancing Program by Fukagawa and Omoteyama Honmachi Geisha Associations (A Smiling House)
Date 1803
Medium Color woodblock print on paper
Dimensions Overall: 7 5/16 x 20 1/4 in. (18.6 x 51.4 cm)
Credit Line Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University
Accession Number 70.4.471

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About this Work

The imagery and text of this surimono suggest that its design functioned as an invitation to a New Year’s program or event hosted by a geisha house. The scene to the right shows a group of three women folding and packing a kimono decorated with auspicious peacock feathers. Before folding the kimono, the women may have used the hot coals of the hibachi along with the ironing vessel to flatten the fabric.

Poem:

For a New Year’s Party
The Adonis plant comes
To a smiling house
—Ichikawa Hakuen, age 62


Provenance research is ongoing for this and many other items in the Eskenazi Museum of Art permanent collection. For more information about the provenance of this artwork, please contact the department curator with specific questions.

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"Dancing Program by Fukagawa and Omoteyama Honmachi Geisha Associations (A Smiling House) | Collections Online." Collections Online. Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University, 2024. https://artmuseum.indiana.edu/collections-online/browse/object.php?number=70.4.471