Courtesan or Actor as Courtesan Pouring Tea by the Light of a Lantern

Courtesan or Actor as Courtesan Pouring Tea by the Light of a Lantern

Utagawa Toyokuni I

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Though Tokugawa sumptuary laws extended to a courtesan's bedding (yagu), this item became progressively more lavish in the eighteenth century. A contemporary writer has described embroidered futons and black silk velvet sleeping robes (yogi) lined with red crepe and padded with finest cotton. Bedding was ostentatiously displayed in brothels as a symbol of status. In this unfinished ink sketch, perhaps a leaf intended for a book of erotica, a courtesan crouches beside her cast-off sleeping robe, which is curled in the shape of her body, and pours tea for an unseen companion.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Courtesan or Actor as Courtesan Pouring Tea by the Light of a LanternCourtesan or Actor as Courtesan Pouring Tea by the Light of a LanternCourtesan or Actor as Courtesan Pouring Tea by the Light of a LanternCourtesan or Actor as Courtesan Pouring Tea by the Light of a LanternCourtesan or Actor as Courtesan Pouring Tea by the Light of a Lantern

The Met's collection of Asian art—more than 35,000 objects, ranging in date from the third millennium B.C. to the twenty-first century—is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world. Each of the many civilizations of Asia is represented by outstanding works, providing an unrivaled experience of the artistic traditions of nearly half the world.