id:			152433
accession number:	1985.261
share license status:	CC0
url:			https://clevelandart.org/art/1985.261
updated:		2025-05-20 11:16:47.483000

Courtesan Reading a Letter, early 1800s. Teisai Hokuba (Japanese, 1771–1844), calligraphy by Ōta Nanpo (Japanese, 1749–1823). Two-panel folding screen; ink and color on paper; image: 156.8 x 165.4 cm (61 3/4 x 65 1/8 in.); overall: 175.2 x 183.5 cm (69 x 72 1/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, The Kelvin Smith Collection, given by Mrs. Kelvin Smith 1985.261

title:				Courtesan Reading a Letter
title in original language:	文読む遊女図
series:				
series in original language:	
creation date:			early 1800s
creation date earliest:		1800
creation date latest:		1823
current location:		
creditline:			The Kelvin Smith Collection, given by Mrs. Kelvin Smith
copyright:			

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culture:	Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)
technique:	two-panel folding screen; ink and color on paper
department:	Japanese Art
collection:	ASIAN - Folding screen
type:		Painting
find spot:	
catalogue raisonne: 

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CREATORS

* Teisai Hokuba (Japanese, 1771–1844)  - painter

* Ōta Nanpo (Japanese, 1749–1823)  - calligraphy by

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measurements: Image: 156.8 x 165.4 cm (61 3/4 x 65 1/8 in.); Overall: 175.2 x 183.5 cm (69 x 72 1/4 in.)
state of the work:	
edition of the work: 	

support materials:


inscriptions:

	inscription:	painting: Signed: Teisai.
Sealed: Hokuba.
calligraphy: Signed: Shokusanjin.
	translation:	
	remark:		

	inscription:	
	translation:	
	remark:		

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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

	title:		Japanese Screens from the Museum and Cleveland Collections
	opening date:   1977-03-23T05:00:00
	<i>Japanese Screens from the Museum and Cleveland Collections</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 23-May 8, 1977).

	title:		A Private World: Japanese and Chinese Art from the Kelvin Smith Collection
	opening date:   1988-09-14T04:00:00
	<i>A Private World: Japanese and Chinese Art from the Kelvin Smith Collection</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 14-November 13, 1988).

	title:		Unfolding Beauty:  Japanese Screens from the Cleveland Museum of Art
	opening date:   2001-07-15T00:00:00
	<i>Unfolding Beauty:  Japanese Screens from the Cleveland Museum of Art</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 15-September 16, 2001).

	title:		Visions of Japan: Prints and Paintings from Cleveland Collections
	opening date:   2004-12-12T00:00:00
	<i>Visions of Japan: Prints and Paintings from Cleveland Collections</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 12, 2004-April 10, 2005).

	title:		Japan’s Floating World 日本の浮世
	opening date:   2022-04-08T04:00:00
	<i>Japan’s Floating World 日本の浮世</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (April 8-October 9, 2022).

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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS

* {'description': '<em>Japanese Gallery 236 Rotation</em>. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (January 13–November 16, 2015).', 'opening_date': '2015-11-16T00:00:00'}

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PROVENANCE

	(David Newman, London, England, sold to Mr. and Mrs. Kelvin Smith)
	date: ?–1974
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


	The Kelvin Smith Collection, Cleveland, OH, given by Mrs. Kelvin [Eleanor Armstrong] Smith [1899–1998] to the Cleveland Museum of Art
	date: 1974–1985
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


	The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
	date: 1985–
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


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fun fact:


digital description:


wall description:

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RELATED WORKS

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CITATIONS

	“Checklist of the Kelvin Smith Bequest.” <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art </em>75, no. 7 (September 1988): 292–295.
	page number: 	Mentioned: p. 294
	url:		https://www.jstor.org/stable/25160040

	Jenkins, Donald. “Paintings of the Floating World.” <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 75, no. 7 (September 1988): 244–278.
	page number: 	Mentioned and reproduced: p. 248-249, fig. 3
	url:		http://www.jstor.org/stable/25160038

	Cunningham, Michael R. <em>Unfolding Beauty: Japanese Screens from the Cleveland Museum of Art</em>. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2001.
	page number: 	Reproduced: pp. 68–69, cat. no. 31
	url:		

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IMAGES

web:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1985.261/1985.261_web.jpg
print:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1985.261/1985.261_print.jpg
full:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1985.261/1985.261_full.tif