Utagawa Sadahide. Shin-Yoshiwara, from the series Pictures of Famous Places of the Eastern Capital / Fan print, c. 1850s.

Artist: Utagawa Sadahide [歌川 貞秀] (Japanese, 1807–c.1878), also known as Gountei Sadahide (五雲亭 貞秀)
Signed: 貞秀画 (Sadahide ga), within yellow double-gourd cartouche
Publisher: Not identified
Date: ca. 1850s (Ansei era)
Media: Woodblock print (nishiki-e, 錦絵); ink and colour on paper; uchiwa-e (rigid fan print, 団扇絵); 261 × 301 mm (10.3 × 11.8 in)
Title: Shin-Yoshiwara, from the series Pictures of Famous Places of the Eastern Capital (Tōto meisho zue, 東都名所圖會)

Description:
Half-length portrait of a courtesan, turned three-quarter-view, facing right. She wears an elaborately layered kimono decorated with stylized seasonal motifs including irises (菖蒲), grasses with dew drops, double gourds (瓢箪), and plovers over waves (千鳥). Her hair is styled in a high coiffure with a red ribbon and multiple yellow ornamental pins, several of which bear gourd and leaf designs. The background is filled with curling water lines and stylized wave reflections. In her right hand, she holds a partially visible roll of paper. The background includes floating irregular star-like forms embedded in the wave design. These may represent either stylised floral motifs or, possibly, used hygienic paper (onkotogami, 音琴紙), an allusion occasionally found in Yoshiwara-related prints to suggest intimacy or aftermath without direct depiction.

At upper right, the red cartouche reads:

• 東都名所圖會 (Tōto meisho zue, “Pictures of Famous Places of the Eastern Capital”)

The smaller blue cartouche beneath it reads:

• しんよし原 (Shin Yoshiwara)

At centre-right, the yellow double-gourd cartouche bears the artist’s signature:

• 貞秀画 (Sadahide ga)

No censor or date seal is present.