The Lovers Shirai Gonpachi and Komurasaki of the Miuraya
Artist
Eishosai Choki
(Japanese, active late 1780s-early 1800s)
Dateabout 1793
Mediumwoodblock print; ink and color on paper
Dimensions32 x 22.2 cm (12 5/8 x 8 3/4 in.)
ClassificationsPrints
MarkingsCensor's seal: kiwame
Publisher's seal: Mura
Credit LineJohn Chandler Bancroft Collection
Terms
Object number1901.59.2178
DescriptionStanding figures of the famous lovers. According to the inscription: "In the style of a picture by Suzuki Harunobu." A similar print bearing the same inscription was also designed by Utamaro. Neither in that nor in this rendereing is there any real resemblance to the style of Harunobu save a certain serenity. The figures, as in the case ofLabel TextTragic love stories taken from real life and dramatized were a staple of stage and print; the darkly romantic combination of desire and death was hugely popular in the eighteenth century. Shirai Gompachi was a warrior of the Tottori fief in western Japan who fled to Edo after committing a murder. He was apprehended and sentenced to death in 1679. His distraught lover, the courtesan Komurasaki, committed suicide at his grave.
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