Interior of the Gankirō Tea House (Butterfly Opera)
Interior of the Gankirō Tea House (Butterfly Opera)

Currently not on view

Interior of the Gankirō Tea House (Butterfly Opera),

1861

Utagawa Kunisada 歌川国貞 (Utagawa Toyokuni III 三代歌川豊国), 1786–1865; born and died Tokyo, Japan
and Hashimoto Sadahide 橋本貞秀, 1807–1873
Japanese
Meiji era, 1868–1912
2006-61 a-c

This collaboration between Sadahide and his teacher Kunisada presents a humorous twist on the foreigners’ section of the entertainment halls at the Gankirō brothel in Yokohama. Genji, the fictional hero of the eleventh-century romantic epic the Tale of Genji, surprisingly turns up, seated front and center, while the women of the establishment do their best to provide him with suitable refreshments and entertainment. At left two Chinese merchants look in through the window; in the back right corner, a party of Western guests dines, oblivious to the performance going on at center. Calligraphy decorating the wall to the right reads, "Foreign customers at the Gankirō."

Information

Title
Interior of the Gankirō Tea House (Butterfly Opera)
Dates

1861

Maker
Utagawa Kunisada 歌川国貞 (Utagawa Toyokuni III 三代歌川豊国)
and Hashimoto Sadahide 橋本貞秀
Medium
Woodblock print (ōban tate-e triptych); ink and color on paper
Dimensions
each sheet: 36.5 x 25 cm. (14 3/8 x 9 13/16 in.) mat: 52.1 x 89 cm. (20 1/2 x 35 1/16 in.)
Credit Line
Museum purchase, The Anne van Biema Collection Fund
Object Number
2006-61 a-c
Place Made

Asia, Japan

Inscription
Toyokuni “signature” on all three prints, carver’s name on all three prints, censor seal on all three prints, publisher’s seal on all three prints, name of teahouse “Gankirō” in center print, top, inscriptions and signature of Sadahide on left and right prints, including “Gountei”, “Sadahide”, and alternate titles for triptych.
Description
A humorous twist on the entertainment halls of the Gankirō brothel in Yokohama unfolds in this collaboration between Sadahide and his teacher Kunisada. The fifteenth-century version of the hero of the eleventh-century romantic epic the Tale of Genji turns up in the segregated foreigners' section of the brothel, and the women of the establishment do their best to provide suitable entertainment. Chinese merchants observe the spectacle through the window while a party of Western guests dines before a dance performance, oblivious to the central performance. The faux Chinese calligraphy scroll decorating the wall to the right reads, "Foreign customers at the Gankirō."
Culture
Japanese
Period
Meiji
Type
japanese printmaking styles, oban, woodblock prints, prints
Materials
oban, color, paper, ink
Techniques
woodcut (process)
Subject
figures (representations), teahouses, operas, tea ceremonies, butterflies, women

–2006 Sebastian Izzard LLC, Asian Art (New York, NY), sold to the Princeton University Art Museum, 2006.

IIIF manifest

The International Image Interoperability Framework, or IIIF, is an open standard for delivering high-quality, attributed digital objects online at scale. Visit iiif.io to learn more.

Open API URL

Our API is generally designed to provide programmatic access to the Museum's collections data for applications that require regular updates and/or the ability to dynamically query and filter the data via the endpoints provided.

Share your feedback with us

The Museum regularly researches its objects and their collecting histories, updating its records to reflect new information. We also strive to catalogue works of art using language that is consistent with how people, subjects, artists, and cultures describe themselves. As this effort is ongoing, the Museum’s records may be incomplete or contain terms that are no longer acceptable. We welcome your feedback, questions, and additional information that you feel may be useful to us. Email us at collectionsinfo@princeton.edu.

Explore More

Holidays at the Museum

Princeton Collects

Mosaic Restaurant