Seated Beauty

A lone courtesan pores over a sheet of poetry paper as she considers what to write. Above her float the words of a love poem, inscribed in the masculine hand of Edo poet Kikuchi Gozan (1769–1849):

Thinking of you, compelled to compose
a verse.
Under the lamplight, writing through the night,
of our lost years.

Is this the poem to which she is crafting a reply? Or has she herself adopted a male voice? Utamaro revolutionized the portrayal of the psychological state of floating-world women, the vast majority of whom were indentured to their “houses” (brothels) by contract, from which a fortunate few might hope to be bought out by a wealthy client. Here, in a surprising twist, the woman’s contemplative gaze is met by the golden-yellow eyes of the muscular carp that looks up at her from the pool of her sumptuously decorated robes.