Courtesan Standing near a Palanquin

In the kabuki theater all roles were played by male actors, and in this print the actor Onoe Kikugorō III (1784–1849) appears in an as-yet-unidentified role as a high-ranking courtesan known as an oiran 花魁. Unlike many kabuki actors who specialized in one particular type of role, Onoe was remarkably versatile, playing heroic warriors, villains, and romantic leads, as well as both male and female characters.

Utagawa Kuniyoshi was a similarly versatile artist in prints, known for landscapes, dramatic narratives, plants, animals, ghost stories, and images of actors and beauties. His technical gifts are shown off in this surimono 摺物, a term for a privately commissioned deluxe print. Originally the left side of a three-panel print, or triptych, it features rich colors, complicated patterns, and precise lines, all printed on high-quality paper. A particularly beautiful effect is the use of a silvery metallic pigment, seen in the kimono and in the wild ginger leaf pattern in the background.