Box title:
江口遊君図
“Painting of the Courrtesan Eguchi”
Box label:
高 Kō [Trade mark of Takashimaya Department Store]
鳳山氏筆 Mr. Hōzan painted
図題 江口君 Title “Eguchi (no) kimi”
番号 三一四 Number 314 [in the exhibition]
Box inscription:
大正八年己未初春写并題簽 鳳山上島寿 「寿印・鳳山」
“In early Spring of the year 1919, the 8th of the Taisho era, painted and inscribed by Ueshima Ju.” Seals: Ju in; Hozan
…
A female with impassive expression and wearing a bamboo-patterned kimono with strongly-patterned obi sash rides on the back of a venerable elephant, its age suggested by the many creases in his skin, like the rings on a tree, and the length of his tusks. In East Asian Buddhism, the elephant is associated with religious figures due to its journey from India to China carrying the sacred scriptures, and in the present case the figure has been identified as Eguchi no kimi, a courtesan who was revealed to be an incarnation of Fugen (Sanscrit Samantabhadra), the Bodhisattvsa of Universal Knowledge and Virtue.
Eguchi no kimi was a courtesan living in the Eguchi district of northern Settsu, the modern Osaka. Her relationship with Fugen was mentioned in the biography of Saigyou (1118-1190) and became the subject of the No play Eguchi by Kan’ami (1333-84). On his way to the temple Tennoiji, Saigyo stops at an inn in the brothel district of Eguchi. His request for a room is refused by the madam of the house; Saigyou responds with a poem arguing that because he, as a priest, has “given up” the world, she should reciprocate and “give up” a room. The courtesan counters with a poem suggesting that, as a monk, Saigyo is not attached to the world and hence should not become attached to her inn. Having demonstrated her virtue, and her knowledge of the scriptures, an identification with Fugen and his elephant was easy, and such was painted by such masters as Maruyama Okyo (1733-95) and by such Shijo school followers as Katsukawa Shunsho (1725-1792), Katsukawa Shuntei (late 18th-earlt 19th century), and the present artist, Ueshima Hozan (1875-1920).
Hozan’s Shijo-school credentials are impeccable: he studied painting in Osaka under Kimura Kanzan, who had studied directly with Okyo, and his grandfather Tsuji Hozan was also a painter of the Shijo school. Hozan also studied with Nishiyama Kan’ei and Watanabe Shoeki. In 1912 Hozan joined with Suga Tatehiko, Kitano Tsunetomi, and Okamoto Taiko to found the Taisho Bijutsukai in Osaka. The approach of Hozan to painting could be termed expressive realism, where realistic details are arranged in such a way as to elicit thoughts and emotions that further elucidate and characterize the subject.
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