Courtesan and Attendant Playing with a Dog

Courtesan and Attendant Playing with a Dog

Nishikawa Sukenobu

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

A gorgeously arrayed young courtesan steps out on a verandah while holding a little dog on a red leash. Her teenage attendant tosses a ball to the cheerful dog tied with red rope collar to which a small brass bell is attached. The scene can be interpreted as a parodic representation of the Princess Sannomiya scene from The Tale of Genji where the princess is standing behind a reed curtain and the leash of a cat gets tangled up with the curtain cord and she is unexpectedly seen by courtiers playing kemari (aristocratic kickball) nearby. That scene from the early eleventh century tale becomes the quintessential scene of voyeurism of beautiful women through the ages. Nishikawa Sukenobu replaces the princess with a courtesan of the Kyoto pleasure quarters, the cat with a dog, and the courtiers playing kemari with a young woman with a thread ball. This painting was formerly in the William Sturgis Bigelow Collection, and sold at auction in 1932.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Courtesan and Attendant Playing with a DogCourtesan and Attendant Playing with a DogCourtesan and Attendant Playing with a DogCourtesan and Attendant Playing with a DogCourtesan and Attendant Playing with a Dog

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.