1794
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Binzasara, A Dance with Clappers (From the series Entertainments at the Height of the Niwaka Festival in the Pleasure Quarters) is a 1794 by Eishōsai Chōki, a Romanticism work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
You see a woman in a bright kimono, mid-dance, holding two long wooden clappers called binzasara. Her sleeves and sash flutter as she moves, and a flowered hat sits on her head. This print was probably sold as a souvenir during the Niwaka Festival, when geisha performed for crowds. The dance itself is old—farmers once used it to ask for good harvests. The artist shows just one moment, but you can almost hear the clappers clicking. Look up more prints from japan, edo period (1615–1868) to see how artists turned daily life into art.
During the eighth lunar month of each year the geisha of the pleasure quarters would form themselves into groups and proceed around the quarter performing dances and skits. It seems likely that woodblock prints featuring the Niwaka Festival were purchased as souvenirs of the occasion. The Binzasara is a ritual dance related to agriculture and fertility performed during the month of May. Agricultural deities are addressed by the use of flowered hats and binzasara clappers.
Read the full account in the museum source.
Eishōsai Chōki made delicate woodblock prints of women in the late 1700s Edo period.
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