Although the exact dates of Miyagawa Yasunobu are not known, he was a disciple of Miyagawa Choshun (1683-1753) who worked exclusively as a painter and, unlike other ukiyo-e artists, did not design woodblock prints. The courtesan in Yasunobu’s painting wears a kimono with unique design: the large Chinese characters relate to a famous landscape series known as the “Eight Views of the Xiao and Xiang Rivers;” these were left in white reserve during dying of the kimono cloth as was another text written in Japanese kana script. The strong black lineament of the sash of the figure appears almost calligraphic in its form in this context.