1796
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Party on the Pleasure Boat Kawaichimaru is a 1796 by Chôbunsai Eishi, a Romanticism work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
A boat glides down a river, packed with musicians, dancers, and women in silk robes. One dancer’s hat is being adjusted; another woman smokes a pipe while listening to the music. This painting shows a night out for wealthy Edo townspeople in the 1790s. The artist filled the scene with small, lively moments—like the floral arrangement on the left—that make the party feel real. The medium isn’t known, but the fine lines and bright colors are typical of Japanese woodblock prints. To see more scenes like this, look up *japan, edo period (1615–1868)*.
A pleasure boat named Kawaichimaru is filled with entertainers in this expansive scene. At the vessel’s right end, a young dancer waits as her costume’s hat is arranged. In the middle, a trio of musicians performs, two on drums and another on shamisen, a three-stringed instrument. Listening to them is an elegant woman smoking her pipe. At the left end, three women, one on a neighboring boat, enjoy a spectacular floral arrangement of pine, lily, and iris on a lacquer stand.
Read the full account in the museum source.
Chōbunsai Eishi (鳥文斎 栄之; 1756–1829) was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist. His last name was Hosoda (細田). His first name was Tokitomi (時富). His common name was Taminosuke (民之丞) and later Yasaburo (弥三郎). Pupil of Kano Eisen'in…
See the richer artist page
