Suzuki Harunobu (1725-1770) | Courtesan blowing smoke in man's face | Edo period, 18th century

A courtesan and her client sit atop a large layered futon; she holds a kiseru pipe, the smoke from which she teasingly blows into her lovers face. Her outer robe is embroidered with a design of banded sedge grass blanketed with a layer of snow. A black lacquer smoking set emblazoned with crests of stylised ivy (tsuta mon) is placed at arms reach beside the futon. The private room is decorated with a folding screen (byobu) painted in ink with stalks of bamboo on which Harunobu playfully signs his name.

For a similar impression of the same print in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, accession number 21.4643, go to:

https://collections.mfa.org/objects/232320